Quarry Bank Mill and Styal Estate

Facilities:  Restaurant   Toilets   Baby Changing Facilities   Shop 

Set in the steep sided valley of the River Bollin, Quarry Bank Mill is an important heritage site that tells the story both of the cotton mill and the community that worked there. The site effectively has 3 attractions; Quarry Bank Mill, the Apprentice House and the Secret Garden, which will take three and a half to four hours to view.

Quarry Bank Mill was the brainchild of a young Samuel Greg, who established the mill alongside the fast flowing River Bollin in 1784. Quarry Bank is renowned for having the most powerful (100hp) working waterwheel in Europe, and at 21 feet wide and 32 feet in diamater, it is quite easily the widest water wheel I've ever seen. The mill also has an empty wheel pit at the opposite end of the building of a similar size to the working water wheel, but I have no information indicating a second water wheel at Quarry Bank.

The breastshot water wheel's main shaft is a huge cast iron unit fitted with cast iron hubs at either end which carry the wheel on a series of substantial radial and diagonal spokes. Drive from the wheel is taken by a large pinion gear from a ring gear around the wheel's circumference. From here the drive is geared up and transmitted to the weaving floors by bevelled gears, where the looms are still driven by belts and pulleys.

The water wheel at Quarry Bank Mill is not the original one designed by Thomas Hewes in 1816, but is actually from a mill in Pateley Bridge, North Yorkshire, which was designed by Sir William Fairbairn, an engineer who was apprenticed to Hewes in 1813. The water wheel was providing power at Quarry Bank right up until it broke in 1904, at which point it was replaced by water turbines, which were more compact and offered even more power.

To increase spindlage during the 1830's Greg needed more power for his mill, but the water wheel was already the largest that could be used with the supply of water from the River Bollin, so he turned to steam power in the form of a beam engine and horizontal steam engine. These fine pieces of engineering are located in a narrow room at the opposite end of the mill to the water wheel, and can be seen in steam daily.

Your tour of Quarry Bank Mill begins near the top of the building, travelling down four or five floors (I lost track) to the water wheel and steam engines at ground level. The mill contains a series of displays telling the story of the Greg family, Quarry Bank Mill, the workers, Styal village, the cotton industry and weaving process. There are several interactive and hands on exhibits to amuse younger members of the family, as well as a demonstration of hand spinning, a spinning jenny and hand operated looms.

Two floors are dedicated to a range of machines that process the cotton through a number of stages, which can be seen in operation. One machine notable if only for its sheer length, is the Mule, a restored spinning machine that twists and teases the cotton onto 512 bobbins (as I recall). Here's a short video of the Mule in operation.

As you stand on the machine floors you start to get a feeling for just how noisy, unpleasant and dangerous the working environment must have been, when the mill was in its heyday and all the machines were running.

Wheelchair access to the mill is limited, but I understand that 3 floors are accessible via ramps and stair lifts. 2 wheelchairs are available from the National Trust for use on site.

The Apprentice House is a separate building a little higher up the valley, where mill apprentices lived and learned. Samuel Greg, realising the need for cheap labour, built the Apprentice House in 1790, to accommodate up to 90 boys and girls, that came from workhouses and orphanages. Children from the age of 9 would toil 12 hours a day in unpleasant and dangerous working conditions for no pay. Work didn't end when they returned to the Apprentice House - boys would work in the vegetable garden and girls would sew or do housework, and on some evenings they would have basic school lessons.

The house was in use for apprentices for nearly 60 years until 1847, by which time nearly 1000 apprentices had passed through its doors. Of these only about 25 died whilst employed at the mill. A good mortality rate for the time, probably due to the reasonable diet and medical attention available from the mill doctor, Peter Holland. Greg was one of the first industrialists to recognise the benefit of maintaining workers' health, including the apprentices, who accounted for a large proportion of Quarry Bank's workforce.

Tours of the Apprentice House are by timed ticket led by costumed guides and take 45 minutes. There are some steep stairs involved, but well worth the effort for an interesting and informative tour that gives you an insight into the life of an 1830's apprentice.

The Secret Garden is new for 2009 and still undergoing restoration at the time of writing (July 2009). Originally the mill owners garden covering 8 acres adjacent to the meadow.