The mill was constructed in 1856 by Martin Swindells, a local cotton spinner, who also owned Clarence Mill. The Adephi Mill was built for Swindells’ two sons – hence the name ‘Adelphi’, which is the Greek word for brothers.

The mill began with the spinning of cotton but was soon converted to the production of fine silk. Within three years of the mill being built, the railway came to Bollington, running virtually alongside the mill. This soon led to a decline in canal transportation, but the Macclesfield Canal remained navigable and the UK’s very first narrow canal cruising club, the North Cheshire Cruising Club, was established there in 1943.

The use of the canal for leisure purposes has gone from strength to strength and it is now the most well-used and picturesque canal in the UK.

During the Second World War Adelphi Mill contributed to the war effort by converting to the production of parachutes.

At the end of the 1960s the mill was acquired by Britax and used for the production of webbing until the 1980s, when the mill was first converted to offices.