Acklington Park Mill. Photo Northumberland County Council, 1971.

The ironworks were built in 1776 and converted into a blanket mill in 1791. It continued in use until the 1930s and is now private housing. The mill was waterpowered and a beautiful horseshoe-shaped dam was constructed to provide water power. The foundry was designed by Smeaton for a group of speculators. However, the site was too far from the markets and the lease was sold in 1791. The works were bought by John Reed, a woollen draper, and weavers were recruited in 1796. The works were sold again in 1828, to David Thompson, a Galshiels manufacturer, and the works remained in his family until 1884. In 1915 the building was taken over by Ellwood Holmes of Newcastle to make hydrate of alumina. A Gilks water turbine in the mill race provided hydro-electric power making this one of the first mills in the county to be lit in this way. The factory closed in 1930 after the river was polluted and renewal of the lease was refused. Now called the Dye House, this is a Grade II Listed Building protected by law.