Hardcastle's Mill was a cotton maker in Victoria Street in operation from 1882 to 1931. It was the forerunner of Elliston's Raincoat Factory. The four-storey building was built over the old Barton mine, on landspace rented to Charles Hardcastle by Sir Humphrey Swinton. Hardcastle put his son Matthew in charge of the work at the mill while he took care of his empire, which included seven weaving sheds, a dyeworks, a warehouse, a tailoring factory and a factory school. Children as young as eight were employed at the mill (including a young Ena Schofield) and full-time workers put in daily thirteen hour shifts.