Coldharbour Mill

Coldharbour Mill
Devon
Coldharbour Mill
Type:	Watermill
Location
Grid reference:	ST06201220
Location:	50°54’6"N, 3°20’7"W
Village:	Ulfcumbe
History
	Watermill
Information
Website:	Coldharbour Mill Museum

Coldharbour Mill, near the village of Uffculme in Devon, is one of the oldest woollen textile mills in the world, having been in continuous production since 1797. The mill was one of a number owned by Fox Brothers, and is today designated as a Grade II* listed building

Today the mill is still operational but is managed as a museum.

Coldharbour Mill can be found just off junction 27 of the M5 motorway near the village of Uffculme, and near to the border with Somerset.

History

It appears that there has been a mill of some description near the Coldharbour site since Saxon times. The Domesday Book recording two mills in the Uffculme area.

In 1797, Thomas Fox acquired the existing corn-grinding mill at Uffculme. He wrote to his brother "I have purchased the premises at Uffculme for eleven hundred guineas, which I do not think dear as they include about fifteen acres of very fine meadow land. The buildings are but middling, but the stream good."

The water provided by the nearby River Culm was a prime factor in his decision to purchase the mill.

The roads in the area at the time were very poor, and finished cloth had to be carried by pack horses to the nearby ports of Topsham and Exeter, or by carrier's cart to Bridgwater, Bristol and London (a twelve-day journey).

The headquarters for the mill was at Tonedale in Wellington. At its peak the company employed approximately 5,000 people and owned and operated nine mills and factories in Somerset, Devon, and Oxfordshire. One of the most notable satellite mills was that of William Bliss & Sons, built in 1872 after a disastrous fire in the original mill. Located in Chipping Norton, the William Bliss site was one of the grandest mills in Britain, complete with reading room, chapel and workers cottages. Fox Brothers bought it in 1920.

The main Tonedale site in Wellington was the largest integrated mill site in the West Country, covering ten acres of land and forming the hub of the Fox Brothers woollen manufacturing business. It is believed to have been the only 'Twin Vertical Woollen Factory' in the world - that is, making both worsted and woollen products, and controlling the entire process from fleece to finished cloth in-house.

The foundation of the mill as a woollen mill came at a poor time for the industry: the war with Revolutionary France closed the French market the merchants of Exeter, who had hitherto become leading exporters, and the French invasions of the Low Countries and then of Italy in 1796, then Spain's joining France as an ally, closed most of the continent.

In the distance is the engine house and boiler house. The photo dates from 1980.

However, a change in emphasis kept industry prospering, in particular a change to 'long ells' for cloth for the east India Company. In a letter from Thomas Fox to Green and Walford, factors, he writes:

Wellington, 15th seventh month 1788

We have for a great number of years been engaged in a very considerable manufactory of various export articles, the principal of which is mixt serges for Holland, but finding of late a slackness in demand owing to the troubles in that country, and the introduction of cottons and other articles, we see it necessary to turn part of our attention to some other articles of constant demand and Long Ells appear to us the most eligible. We hope if a tryal appears to answer we may in time prove mutually useful correspondents.

In 1833, the East India Company's trading functions ceased and the trade in long ells to China declined, so Thomas Fox developed the production of flannel, which was sold in the home market and to America.

In 1881, as a result of losses in the First Boer War, a Parliamentary Commission sought to equip the army with khaki uniform. Fox Brothers decided to bid for the contract, reasoning that the new contract for 5,000 puttees would save lives, as well as create employment. Fox Brothers went on to be the major producer of puttees, manufacturing some 850 miles of the cloth in the First World War.

In support of the flannel emphasis, in 1865 Coldharbour Mill moved over to producing worsted yarn rather than woollen yarn. This necessitated the need for more power to drive new combing machines. (Worsted yarn is made from sheep with long hair fleeces and the wool has to be combed to ensure that all the fibres are parallel.)

The mill running today

The operational Lancashire boiler at Coldharbour Mill.

Coldharbour Mill classifies itself as "a working wool museum" and as such runs its museum machinery to demonstrate how woollen products were made. The demonstration products (including worsted yarn, tartan cloth,and rugs) are made available for sale. The mill has four registered tartans - Devon Original (1284), Devon Companion (1283), Somerset (831), and Blackdown Hills (6711).

Sources of power

Coldharbour Mill is unusual to have used both water and steam power right up to the time of its demise as a commercial venture. The water power was believed to have been used for the night shift up until 1978.

• Water power: The cast and wrought iron high breast-shot wheel is 18 feet in diameter by 14 feet wide, with 48 buckets. It is part of a very unusual survival of a combined water and steam powered drive system, as it continued to be used after the 1910 addition of the horizontal steam engine, and the drive mechanism is still in place. The wheel is turning most days.

The restored Kittoe and Brotherhood beam engine at Coldharbour

• Steam power: Thomas Fox's brother Edward was instrumental in installing an early example of a Boulton and Watt engine. James Watt himself was invited to Wellington in 1782, just six months after his patent for the sun and planet gear that allowed reciprocating motion. However cost and the threat from Luddites postponed the installation of an engine and Coldharbour Mill did not get a steam engine until 1865
• Electrical power: Coldharbour Mill also had a small water turbine for electricity generation, which used the 14 foot head of water between the upper leat and the tail race.
• Gas production: Coldharbour Mill generated its own coal gas on site for lighting the mill (and thus enabling the machinery to be run all night).

The museum today

The museum is owned and run by the Coldharbour Mill Trust Limited, a charitable trust. It has a number of educational programmes for schools including Victorian Drama; Materials & Fibres; and Britain at War.

The mill is home to a number of other exhibits:

• A large collection of some 25 modern dolls houses by a local artist.
• A World War Two exhibit.
• A model railway depicting the Culm Valley Light Railway.
• A large five panel tapestry, the Blackdowns Millennium Tapestry, showing a 3D plan of the local parishes of Willand, Uffculme, Culmstock, Hemyock and Clayhidon.
• A large number of hand looms which are used by professional artist Louise Cottey to teach weaving classes
• Extensive displays on puttee manufacturing.
• Visiting exhibitions

Outside links

("Wikimedia Commons" has material about Coldharbour Mill)

• Coldharbour Mill Museum