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Helmshore Mills Textile Museum is housed in two adjacent former textile mills, Higher Mill and Whitaker’s Mill, in the quiet village of Helmshore in the Rossendale Valley, approximately 16 miles north of Manchester. The museum covers a three acre site, most of it running alongside the River Ogden.

Higher Mill was constructed in 1789 and Whitaker’s Mill in the 1820s by the Turner family, textile manufacturers from the Blackburn area. In their early life the mills alternated between working wool and cotton; by 1920 they were working shoddy (recycled cotton) as condenser mule mills. Although a considerable part of Whitaker's Mill was destroyed in a fire in 1857, it was rebuilt shortly afterwards and continued in operation until 1978.

The mills closed in 1967 and they were taken over by the Higher Mills Trust who maintained it as a museum (Link Helmshore Mills Textile Museum, Lancashire County Council). The museum is open for visitors and does carding and mule spinning demonstrations. On the ground floor of Higher Mill is the fully operational, large waterwheel with five pairs of fulling stocks. The first floor of Higher Mill is home to an interactive wool story display. Whitaker’s Mill houses a fine collection of industrial machinery in an authentic setting. The upper floor includes the impressive spinning floor and an exhibition gallery.

The historical importance of the mills and their surroundings is conveyed by the fact that the site holds Scheduled Ancient Monument status (Link Rossendale Borough Council).