There were many water powered mills along the River Otter in the past, most, modest in size, and grinding grains for flour and animal feed, but two, situated at Ottery St Mary and Newton Poppleford, were working factories that started out processing wool and moved on to silk.

The original factory at Ottery still stands, but scarcely a trace remains of the one at Newton Poppleford.  This article examines the history of the Newton Poppleford mill, its workforce and the effect on the population of this small East Devon town.  The research was carried out by the author whilst working as a volunteer for the East Devon AONB Parishscapes with the Parishscapes Officer Philippe Planel in a collaborative project with Newton Poppleford Primary School on the Silk Factory.

The factory stood beside the River Otter at the eastern end of the town, on the west bank.  Present day Millmoor Lane which leads off the A3052 was the route many of the mill-workers would have taken to work.  This is called Factory Lane on the Ordnance Survey First Edition series map of 1888 (where the mill is labelled ‘Victoria Silk Factory’).  The factory site is now fields.  I have been told that traces of the stonework of the original mill leat can be seen next to the road bridge.

Taking the 1842 Tithe Map as a starting point for research is slightly disappointing as the map is torn and mainly missing at the factory area.  However the tithe apportionments make many references to it as there is a holding called Factory Ground.  The mill was always owned by Lord Rolle (present day Clinton Devon Estate) and the lessee at this time was Henry Elliott.

The mill was newly built around 1790 at a cost of £1200 with the contents valued at £800.  It was called Newton Mill at this time. Searching Trewman’s Exeter Flying Post (EFP) newspaper archive, the history can be traced from soon after this date.  In June 1806 the lease of the ‘Worsted and Yarn Manufactory’ is offered for sale ‘by order of the assignees of John Hogg, a Bankrupt’.  The advertisement in this newspaper gives a good description of the site at this time:

The mill, which is built of brick and stone, contains three floors, stands in a spacious yard, round which is a very convenient range of buildings, consisting of a dwelling house, counting-house, porter’s lodge, wash-house, ware-rooms, works-shops, store-rooms, and lofts over; and the whole incompassed by a substantial wall.

In the fields are a very good drying kiln, a loft for the drying of wool, and a large linhay for stretching and drying goods.

Also to be sold are all the utensils of the trade and the machinery.  Included in this list are: twenty worsted frames, nineteen weaving looms and twenty-three spinning jennies.  Horses and carts are also included in the sale.  About four acres of pasture land form part of the lot.  The total yearly rent is £5.

Just before Christmas in 1793 the mill had burnt down after a fire broke out and spread rapidly before help arrived.  The report in the EFP notes ‘a vast quantity of wool, woollen goods and working materials, was also burnt…’.  The report concludes the fire was started deliberately but names no names.  The mill is quoted as the property of Messrs. Hill, Thuillier, Reed and Co. at this time.  It was likely in their hands from when it was new.  It seems the mill must have been rebuilt soon after the fire.

The mill changed hands frequently and similar advertisements to the 1806 one appear in newspapers in 1808, 1812, 1813, 1814 and 1818; no doubt there are others.  In 1826 Walter Brind was lessee and by 1831 William Elliott had possession.  As mentioned Henry Elliott (son of William) was in possession in 1842.

White’s Directory for 1850 shows the factory as unoccupied but by 1852 the mill is again to let (EFP) and the rent for the last tenant is quoted as £190, although there are some additional rent charges. This advertisement describes the water wheel as being breast-shot, 16 feet in diameter and 10 feet 6 inches wide. We know that the Wood Brothers, Thomas & William, took up this lease.

Whilst many areas in southern England had working mills perhaps most of us will consider working mills as part of an urban landscape, probably in the north of England, and conjure up images of hundreds of workers pouring out of nearby terraced houses and clattering off to the mill in their clogs along pavemented streets.  Newton Poppleford is a small rural town in East Devon and many local people were land workers.  Why did the mill come here and where did the workforce for the mill come from and where did they live?

To attempt to answer the first part of this question we need to look beyond rural Devon.  Easing of high import duties in the 1820s meant that only industrialised throwing of silk became financially viable in this country.  Industrial unrest in the areas of the north, where much of the work was still done in homes, followed the increased mechanisation of the processes as workers feared for their livelihoods. Factory machines were efficient and simple so that literally a child could operate one. Pay reflected this lack of any special skill needed.

It is possible Newton Poppleford mill had been built as a speculative venture, although a grist mill had been working there, as the 1826 lease granted to Walter Brind and others states, “All those houses, outhouses and buildings now made use of as a Silk Manufactory and standing where Newton Poppleford Water Grist Mills formerly were”. So it seems a new mill was built which became a woollen working mill, or maybe it was built at the request of the first lessees.

With the demise of the woollen industry, mills might turn to silk.  Mill owners perhaps eager to make a fresh start in more peaceful surroundings looked well beyond the north of England.  Whilst an idea of a pool of cheap, compliant, local labour could have been an attraction, this proved to be fairly unimportant as we shall see.  Ottery St Mary’s mill also changed from woollen manufacture to silk at a similar time.

The centre of the silk trade is often quoted as Macclesfield in Cheshire which had many silk mills by the 1770s although other northern towns also had silk mills.  Skilled staff at Newton Poppleford often came from outside the area and it is perhaps interesting to trace the career of a man who became a manager at Newton Poppleford mill.

In 1861 James Bayley (the spelling varies) is a 24-year old Staff Man in Congleton, Cheshire.  By 1871 James Bailey is listed as ‘Staff Man at Silk Factory’ in Newton Poppleford and his eleven year old son works in the factory.  By 1881 this son is a carpenter and James Bailey is now Manager at the Silk Factory.  By 1891 he has moved back to Congleton in Cheshire and is listed as a Licensed Victualler at the Royal Oak.  He had gained his experience in Congleton in a mill as he was a Silk Hand on the 1851 census when he was 14 years old.

This question of where the workforce came from is interesting as it seems a lot of them moved into the town from elsewhere.  Senior and skilled positions seem to have gone to those with experience from the silk centres of the north of England.  As census details become available from 1841 onwards it is possible to trace the movements of mill workers.

The powered machines in the mill were for throwing silk, which means spinning a thread.  Those doing this work were known as throwsters and one place many of these silk throwsters - the majority of workers - came from was Taunton, where there was a silk mill.  A much lesser number also came from Ottery St Mary where, as noted, there was another silk mill.  So it seems that whilst some workers were local people there was also a mobile workforce perhaps following the fortunes of the silk industry as mills opened and closed.  A search for what Devon Record Office held on the mill produced the following entry, illustrating just how mobile!

FILE – Elizabeth Branscombe – ref. 2914 A/PO 270 – date: 1817
 
 “Now residing at Newton Poppleford, within the Parish of Aylesbeare. Born in Alysbeare apprenticed to work in Newton Poppleford factory when it was worked by Messrs. Hill, Reed and Bear. She served there until she was 19 when the factory closed. Then she worked in the Exwick factory and lived in Magdalen Street, Exeter for about 7 months. Then Newton Factory was in work again by Mr Larder and she returned and worked there for a year and a half. When she was 22 she went to Ottery St Mary and worked by the piece for about [] weeks, then returned to the Newton Factory and worked under Mr Fulford. Then she went to N, Tawton and worked uder the same Mr Fulford.”

Where did all the workers live? Various census returns refer to ‘Factory Hamlet’. This appears to be seven houses, each called a ‘Factory Cottage’, close to the mill, as the silk mill is often listed in the midst of them.  It is not ‘Bridgend Hamlet’ which is listed separately.  I expect the houses were in Factory Lane.  Whilst silk workers lived in these houses, the head of the household in some was not a factory employee.

In 1871 two foremen at the silk mill (one hailing from Congleton in Cheshire) each live in a house there. Perhaps they were houses for key-workers built by Lord Rolle to accompany the factory, but, any surplus to requirements, were let to others. 

In 1881 eight premises listed as ‘Factory’, which include the Manager’s house, contain mainly silk workers, but again the head of the household in a few cases is not involved with the factory.  On the 1871 census we find Isaac Gee a man in his sixties living on his own in a house adjacent to these factory cottages.  He was a silk machine maker and came from Gawsworth in Cheshire.  Perhaps a single man, although skilled, did not warrant a whole Factory Cottage to himself.

Whilst Factory Hamlet accommodated some mill workers, the majority, young women, lodged in the town.  Looking at census entries reveals just what an impact these workers must have had on the town and the income they must have generated for those who lodged them. 

In 1861 William and Mary Polfrey, locals in their 50s, had a house full of female boarders and lodgers.  These six women all worked at the mill and the youngest was 12, the others aged 18 to 21.  One is from Bristol, one from Ottery St Mary, two from Honiton, one from Talaton and one actually from Newton Poppleford. 

This picture of local homes full of factory workers is repeated throughout the town when the factory was thriving and looking at census returns for 1841 and comparing it to Ottery St Mary, where their silk factory is in business, we see many silk factory workers present in both these towns and many lodging locally.

Studying the census returns from 1841 onwards reveals the young age of a lot of the silk mill workers.  Whilst legislation was passed to give these children some degree of protection, in terms of hours worked, we would still regard it as harsh that children were working in a factory at all.

The 1833 Factory Act banned children under nine from working in textile factories. Children aged nine to thirteen were only allowed to work 9 hours a day and 48 hours a week.  Thirteen to eighteen year olds were limited to 12 hours a day and 69 hours a week.  All children under eleven to have two hours education a day.

When we consider the hours of a working week in the present day, these figures, which were seen as an improvement, are still shocking.  Whilst hours were improved in the 1844 Factory Act to 6½ on weekdays for eight to thiriteen year olds, it is seen that the minimum age for workers has been reduced to eight.  Education has increased to three hours a day.  It will be remembered that Saturdays were working days in these times as well.

By 1847 the act introduced a 10 hour day for women and under eighteens. How did the mill in Newton Poppleford observe these rules?  A full study of all census years would be needed to arrive at a statistical analysis but a snapshot of certain years gives an idea. Looking at the census for 1861 in a few households we can also see the very young age of some of the workers.

The Pring family, who were all locally born, had five children and the eldest three Emma, Edwin and Mary (aged twelve, nine and seven respectively) are listed as silk spinners.  Another family the Foxwells had eight children, six of them worked at the factory with the youngest working daughter being six years old.  The Bolt family had six children with four working at the factory, the youngest beeing eight years old.  The Dovey family comprising mother and five children all worked in the factory with the youngest William just five years old.

Researching an ancestor who worked at the mill, a Colyton man discovered that in 1856 William Gorman was six years old and working a 72 hour week (starting at 6 a.m.) for 1s 6d (7 ½ p) per week.  No doubt many more examples can be found.  It would seem that the Factory Acts were pretty well ignored at this mill.

A gravestone in St Luke’s churchyard Newton Poppleford for Thomas Wood (inscription is shown below), one of the mill lessees, tells that he died in 1874 and for the last 18 yrs of his life was connected with the silk mills nearby. This indicates that James Bailey was likely working for him and probably also for Thomas’s brother William who took over ownership when Thomas died.  Note Wood’s origins; Flash was in the silk working area and had its own silk mill. Macclesfield is less than ten miles away.

SACRED
TO THE MEMORY OF
THOMAS WOOD

WHO WAS BORN AT FLASH STAFFORDSHIRE AND FOR THE LAST 18 YEARS OF HIS LIFE WAS CONNECTED WITH THE ADJOINING SILK MILLS WHEREBY HIS BENEVOLENCE AND GOOD WILL HE WON THE HEARTS OF ALL WHO KNEW HIM. AFTER A SHORT BUT SEVERE ILLNESS PATIENTLY ENDURED HE FELL ASLEEP IN JESUS ON SUNDAY MORNING 11TH JANUARY 1874,
IN THE 63RD YEAR OF HIS AGE
DEEPLY LAMENTED BY ALL
HE WAS DILIGENT IN BUSINESS FERVENT IN SPIRIT SERVING THE LORD

THIS MEMORIAL WAS ERECTED BY HIS SORROWING BROTHERS AND SISTERS AS A TRIBUTE OF THEIR GREAT LOVE AND AFFECTION FOR THE DEPARTED

IN THE MIDST OF LIFE WE ARE IN DEATH

 
To pinpoint the exact end of the working mill is difficult, but again turning to census information a picture of the mill in its last years might be possible.  The population of Newton Poppleford changed from census to census and it seems the peaks and troughs mirror the times when the mill is thriving or closed.

The mill was closed in 1850 and only working again in 1852; 1861 and 1871 are good years but by 1881 the workforce is much reduced and by the 1890’s Mr. Lipscomb, the Rolle Estate Agent, is writing to the Devon County Council “the mills have been closed for some years and there is a probability that they will be pulled down”.

Certainly the 1891 census records the Silk Mills and seven others (Factory Cottages?) nearby as uninhabited.  Was James Bailey therefore the last manager of the silk mill? Going back to 1881 data only thirty-nine silk factory workers are listed and fifteen of these live in the Factory Cottages.  Gone are the days when nearly every house seemed to have silk workers as lodgers.

There are very few single women in the age range 18 to 25 at this time.  There are six widows out of a total of thirty-nine silk workers and three boys.  Five men are listed, with four of them being in managerial positions; perhaps strange with so few workers in total.

Mentioned on this census, as well as others, are workers from Guernsey. I have found little information about this except that in 1851 raw silk was sent to the Great Exhibition here, by the Guernsey Silk Growers’ Company which was recently established.

Year Population of
Newton Poppleford
1841 549
1851 435
1861 537
1871 675
1881 577
1891 488

Source: UK Census

There is a claim that the factory burned down and was transferred to Taunton and some of the building was used to build Newton Poppleford village hall which was formerly a chapel.  The latter may be true, although claims are also that the stone was used to build nearby cottages.  The silk mill in Taunton was already established and by now the silk industry nationally was in its final years as cheap imports became available.

Researched by Sue Dymond,  © 2010

Source Material

UK Census 1841-1911
Trewman’s Exeter Flying Post
Clinton Devon Estates - Gerald Millington Archivist
National Archives online – Factory Acts
Tithe map and apportionments online from East Devon AONB Parishscapes
Water mills and other water powered sites in Devon - Martin Bodman (unpublished)
White’s Devonshire Directory 1850
Bygone Industries of The Peak: Silk Industries – Julie Bunting

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