 Abraham <unk> Stott , the son of a <unk> , was born in nearby Shaw and Crompton in 1822 . He served a seven @-@ year apprenticeship with Sir Charles Barry , before starting a structural engineering practice in Oldham in 1847 that went on to become the pre @-@ eminent mill architect firm in Lancashire . Philip Sydney Stott , third son of Abraham and later titled as Sir Philip Stott , 1st <unk> , was the most prominent and famous of the Stott mill architects . He established his own practice in 1883 and designed over a hundred mills in several countries . His factories , which improved upon his father 's <unk> mills , accounted for a 40 % increase in Oldham 's spindles between 1887 and 1914 . 
