QUARRY BANK MILL
By Mark Bateman
Located in Styal Cheshire, and now operated by the National Trust, Quarry Bank Mill is one of the best surviving textile factories from the Industrial revolution when production changed from a mainly rural ‘cottage’ (home- based) industry, to a centralised and factory- based means of production around which towns and cities grew and developed.
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he factory was built in 1784 by Samuel Greg a British entrepreneur who also operated a slave plantation he had inherited in the West Indies. Greg was notable for his early adoption of revolutionary technologies including using waterpower to operate new machinery such as spinning frames. There have also been claims he took a (comparatively) enlightened view of labour relations attending to the spiritual and educational needs of his
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work force. This was in large – part due to his wife Hannah Lightbody who helped Greg provide medical care to his workers, and some education to children in his care. The mill itself is located at an advantageous site on the River Bollin which allowed Greg to harness the power of the river to operate his waterwheels. The mill was also connected by road to the Bridgewater Canal for easy access to shipments of raw cotton transported in from Liverpool. Greg leased the land the mill stands on from Lord Stamford who imposed the condition that none of the surrounding trees were to be loped, pruned, or felled. This was obviously taken to heart as the factory now stands adjacent to beautiful gardens and woodlands. The mill is an imposing building, built with ‘no frills’ to be a working cotton - spinning factory. It was originally a four storey building measuring 8.5 metres by 27.5 metres
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and incorporated a staircase, a counting house and warehousing space. Its main method of production was by use of the Water Frame a type of spinning machine patented (the basic idea had been around for a long time) by Richard Arkwright in 1769. In 1796 the factory was extended; it was doubled in length and a fifth floor was added. By 1784 the mill ran 2425 spindles which grew to 3452 spindles by 1805. The mill was further expanded in 1836 and 1838 when the development of new machinery meant weaving the finished cotton moved to being completed at the factory rather than being produced in individual homes as it had previously been. To this end weaving sheds were added to the site which housed over 300 looms. By the time Greg retired in 1832, leaving his son to take over, it was the largest mill in the country. The means of powering the mill was a succession of water wheels, originally wooden, and then made of www.lancmag.com
