Relics of the West's industrial heyday, a multitude of crumbling mills, factories and power plants that were once buzzing with activity lie derelict and eerily silent in the developed countries of the world, patiently awaiting demolition or repurposing. Click or scroll through 14 abandoned buildings that hark back to a time when much of the population worked in manufacturing.

Oldham, England's Hartford Mill was completed in 1907 and served as a cotton mill until the 1950s when competition from overseas prompted its transformation into a warehouse. The building was used by retailer Littlewoods to store stock until the early 1990s when it was vacated and left to decay despite garnering Grade II heritage status. 

A devastating fire ripped through the mill in 2014 and the following year a teenager was killed after falling through the roof. In fact, the hazardous structure, which has been described as a death trap, was the scene of 250 emergency incidents over the past three years. Unsurprisingly, it is now being demolished.

Perched precariously over the Crystal River in western Colorado, this ramshackle former compressor station is reportedly one of the most photographed structures in the Centennial State. Built in 1893 not far from the Sheep Mountain Mine, the mill was shut down in 1917 when the mine was abandoned and has remained unused ever since. 

However, it was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1985, and over the years local residents and historical societies have worked to preserve the wooden structure, which no doubt would have rotted away. Traveling to see the mill in all its glory is no mean feat: the site is only accessible during the warmer months of the year and the trip requires a four-wheel-drive vehicle at the very least.

This cavernous mountain cleft in the resort town of Sorrento near Naples was formed by a volcanic eruption that occurred 35,000 years ago and was the location of a number of ancient saw and flour mills, the first of which was constructed way back in the 10th century.

These days only one of the long-abandoned mills remains and the building makes for a remarkable sight, all overgrown with greenery. Needless to say, the Instagram-friendly stone structure is now one of Sorrento's leading tourist attractions and one of the most photographed abandoned places on the planet.

The Australian city's longest-serving power plant, White Bay Power Station, which is situated in the suburb of Rozelle, entered into operation in 1917 and was expanded in the mid-1920s and again during the mid-1940s. The coal-fired facility eventually closed in 1983 and was fully decontaminated during the 1990s.

The power plant was awarded listed status in 1999 and efforts have since been made to preserve the structure. The building has been used as a location for various TV and film productions, including The Matrix Reloaded and The Great Gatsby, and plans have been floated to transform it into a mixed-use development.

This imposing grain malting factory was built in around 1905 adjacent to the Lachine Canal in Montréal's Saint-Henri neighborhood and is a well-known landmark in the area. In its heyday, the facility produced an impressive 250,000 pounds of malt per year and supplied a plethora of local distilleries and breweries. 

The factory was sold in 1980 and had a second life as a soya and corn warehouse until 1989 when it was effectively abandoned. Since then, the disintegrating structure has been the setting of several urban art projects, including a light show and massive mask art installation. Community collective À nous la Malting! has been trying to get CA$45 million (US$34m/£26m) funding to turn the site into social housing, and in August 2018 received CA$10,000 (US$7.6k/£5.8k) from the Southwest borough to develop a project proposal. But they are in competition with Renwick Development, which submitted its own CA$120 million (US$90m/£70m) proposal earlier to develop the silos into 160 family housing units and an additional 60 social housing units.

Constructed in 1904, this venerable factory in Lansford, Pennsylvania started out as a silk mill. Following the widespread adoption of cheaper artificial alternatives such as rayon and nylon, it was repurposed as the Rosenau Bros clothing factory. Rosenau Bros was notable for making dresses under the Cinderella label, which were made famous by child star Shirley Temple.

The company folded in 1988 but a group of enterprising employees snapped up the machinery and created the Kiddie Kloes label. Sadly it went the same way as Rosenau Bros and the factory closed for good in 1996, though the building and much of its contents remain, slowly decaying away. That said, it has been reported that the local residents who own the building hope to rehabilitate it. In 2017, Preservation Pennsylvania added the building to the Pennsylvania At Risk list.

A remnant of the UK capital's industrial past and one of the few major factories in London that hasn't yet met the wrecking ball or been redeveloped, Millennium Mills in Silvertown dates from the turn of the century but the main building was destroyed in World War II and rebuilt during the 1950s. At its height, the facility had a workforce of 100,000.

The flour factory closed down in 1981. Since then, the building has been used a TV and movie set but has been left more or less derelict. Planning permission was granted in 2015 to redevelop Millennium Mills in a £3.5 million ($4.5m) project. After some time spent on decontaminating the site, construction was scheduled to start in early 2021. However, the coronavirus pandemic may have an impact on the schedule.

Built in the late 19th century and expanded in the 1920s, the Continental Rubber Factory in Hannover-Limmer has a checkered history. During World War II, Continental used forced labor at the factory and the enslaved workers were subjected to horrific conditions there.

Operations ceased for a time towards the end of the conflict but resumed in 1945 and continued until 2000 when the factory was finally abandoned. At present, the site, which has attracted more than its fair share of urban adventurers, is in the process of being demolished to make way for a housing development.

Sprawling over a bewildering four million square feet, the Packard Automotive Plant in Detroit opened in 1903 and is credited with being the world's first truly modern automobile manufacturing facility. At its peak, the plant employed 40,000 people involved in more than 80 diverse trades.

The colossal factory was shuttered in 1958 after the Packard Car Company went bust, but continued to house other businesses until the late 1990s. Thereafter it became a venue for underground rave parties and a haven for urban explorers. The largest abandoned industrial complex in the world, the derelict plant saw three buildings demolished in 2019 after the plant's automotive bridge collapsed into the road, and is back for sale again.

Tonedale Mills in Wellington, Somerset, England was founded in the 1700s and flourished during the 19th century. The wool factory complex became famous for its Taunton serge cloth and produced 21,300 feet of material per day at its zenith.

The largest woollen mill in southern England entered into decline during the latter half of the 20th century as a result of cheap competition from abroad. It was largely abandoned during the 1980s, but parts of the site are still used to this day by small-scale artisans.

One of the most aesthetically pleasing abandoned industrial buildings in our round-up, the stunning Oustau Ceramic Factory, aka the 'Red Factory', in the southern French town of Aureilhan was built in 1873 by industrialist Laurence Oustau, who had perfected a unique technique for glazing bricks.

The factory's halcyon days were during the early part of the 20th century but it went into decline shortly after and finally closed down in 1970. The building was declared a French historic monument in 1994 but remains in a state of disrepair and is crying out for a sympathetic restoration.

Believe it or not, this bizarre structure, which was built in 1920, is actually what is left of a former metals refinery. The Tintic Standard Reduction Mill in Genola, Utah was in operation for just four years, and then abandoned when the particular technology it was based on was deemed obsolete.

The mill was simply left to crumble, but the foundations for the water tanks, crushers, roasters, iron boxes, leaching tanks and drain boxes survive. Covered in colorful graffiti, they make for an arresting and extremely strange sight in the surrounding hilly landscape.

Together with the nearby town of Guben, Forst in the eastern state of Brandenburg was dubbed 'The German Manchester', after the English city, for its abundance of factories and other industrial buildings. Built in 1923 for two Jewish brothers, the Nazis took this textile factory over during World War II. After the war it was used as an administration building until the Peaceful Revolution of 1989. It has remained empty ever since.

As well as the austere factory buildings, a large number of grand villas remain. These elegant mansions housed the owners of the factories and were erected at great expense. Today, many of them have pretty much been allowed to go to rack and ruin, though several have been restored.

Inaugurated in 1963, this oil refinery in Reichstett, France was under the ownership of Total before passing to Shell. The refinery was then sold on in 2007 to Swiss company Petroplus, which at the time was Europe's leading oil refiner.

Petroplus was forced to shut down the refinery in 2010 for financial reasons and ended up going bankrupt in 2012. Though plans were afoot to convert it into an oil terminal, the site remains abandoned and the facility is slowly rusting away, with nature reclaiming the myriad pipes and tanks.

Now discover Abandoned shopping malls and stores across the world