The placename 'Stocksbridge' appears to have referred originally to a bridge over the former course of the 'Little Don or Porter' built by a John Stocks who lived nearby in 1716 (May and Jessop 2004, 6). The earliest of the buildings on this site is probably a part of the long north south range at the west of the area. This appears to be an enlargement and modification of a cotton mill built on the site of an earlier fulling mill in 1794-5 by Jonathan Denton (ibid, 7). This venture was not commercially successful and the building appears to have had a number of uses over the next 5 decades. The development of the site into a major steelworks began with its purchase by Samuel Fox in 1841 especially after his development of the first wire framed umbrella in 1848 and on the back of sales of corsetry wire and crinoline. This area (identified as Area D within the buildings appraisal undertaken by Archaeological Consultants ARCUS in 2004) (May and Jessop 2004) includes, "an impressive group of brick and sandstone buildings . . . The external appearance [of which] is essentially the same as historical views from the latter part of the nineteenth century" At the rear of the area (western end) is a substantial sandstone mill. Part of this building may well reuse the original 1794 cotton mill. - To the north is a similar 6 storey mill building dating to c1860s. Complementing these buildings is an ornate later 19th century office complex built to display the status of Samuel Fox and Co.