This video takes you on a tour of a Victorian bobbin mill at Stott Park, near Lake Windermere, in the Lake District, Cumbria.
Tour of a Victorian Bobbin Mill, Stott Park, Cumbria from Richard Elen on Vimeo.
Enormous cogwheels at Stott Park bobbin mill
Stott Park Bobbin Mill was opened in 1835 to supply the cotton mills of Lancashire (of which this area was a part at the time) with bobbins to carry the thread which was spun into cloth. It was originally powered by a water wheel, later by a water turbine and then by a steam engine. Ultimately, electricity arrived. The mill finally closed in 1971 and then reopened in 1983 as a museum.
Exterior view of the building showing the end of the line shaft and a belt drive
Today, Stott Park Bobbin Mill is in the care of English Heritage, and in this video you’ll be taken on a 20-minute guided tour of the mill by one of the English Heritage staff members to see the different stages of the bobbin-making process, including some of the machines being used by a veteran mill worker.
You’ll see the steam engine, although it was not, regrettably, in steam on this occasion, and get a feeling for what life was like for the mill workers – who, in this case, came mainly from the workhouses of Liverpool and Manchester.
View through the window in the previous picture into part of the building showing some of the machines and the belts leading up to the overhead line shaft
For many years, the manager of this mill was a woman, and curiously she only had male workers in the mill; generally mills of this type were operated by women, who were widely believed to be better at the job.
I am grateful to the staff at Stott Park and to English Heritage for providing the tour depicted in this video.
This video is part of an ongoing series intended to give an insight into Britain’s early industrial technology.
