Ham Mill, Thrupp - Dec 2014
Visit
Visited with Huey, we have been trying to get this one done for a few months now and finally managed
to hook up with Site Manager and arrange a date to visit. Unfortunately this wasn't to be as on the
day he was ill. Three weeks later we have rescheduled and are on our way!
If anyone does want to have a wonder around please get in touch with the Manager, he's a really nice
guy but is very busy and the last thing he needs is to be giving guided tours to explorers all day long!
Trying to break in would not be a good idea as the place is locked up very tightly and securely.
All in all we spent about three hours on the site, couldn't find the remains of where the water wheels
were but other than that I think we got everything.
Thank you very much Rod! We really appreciated your hospitality and the history lessons!
History
Ham Mill was occupied in 1608 by Robert Tayloe, and in 1634 Robert Tayloe, clothier, and his son Thomas
sold it to Samuel Webb. Samuel received grants of protection against the plundering of his goods from
Prince Maurice in 1642 and Prince Rupert in 1643. (fn. 137) He was succeeded by his grandson Samuel who
owned the mill in 1685; it then had two fullingstocks, a gig-mill, a grist-mill, dye-house, presshouse,
and 5 racks, and the property also included a mansion called Doleman's Ham and a considerable estate.
Samuel was succeeded, apparently before 1723, by his son Robert). Robert's widow Anne was entitled to
dower in part of the property while the remainder passed to his aunt Susannah, who, however, granted her
estate to Anne for life. On Susannah's death in 1737 her reversionary right passed to the daughters of
William Webb, Mary who married Samuel Aldridge and Jane who married Ralph Lampthorn, but in 1743 Samuel,
Ralph, and Jane joined with Anne Webb in a release of Ham Mill to James Winchcombe, mercer, reserving to
Anne an annuity and the right to occupy the house for life. Winchcombe was making cloth at the mill in
1764. By 1803 John Knowles and a partner were working it, and it was put up for sale in 1812 following
Knowles's death. It was apparently bought by Sir Paul Baghott of Lypiatt Park, and in 1822 it was owned
by Obadiah Wathen and occupied by Joseph Wathen.
Shortly afterwards Ham Mill was acquired by William Marling, founder of one of the most successful clothier
families of the Stroud region. William took his son Thomas into partnership at Ham Mill in 1825, and in 1832
another son, Samuel Stephens Marling, joined the firm. In 1833 the mill was powered by a steam-engine in
addition to 3 water-wheels, and in 1838, when Thomas and Samuel were carrying on the business, it contained
45 power-looms and 29 handlooms. By 1842 Ham Mill belonged to Nathaniel Samuel Marling, another of William's sons,
but it was occupied by William Stanton of Stafford's Mill. It possibly became a saw-mill after 1846 when Marling
leased it to Thomas Barrett of Painswick, turner, but from 1852 the lessee was Thomas Sampson, a woollen shawl
manufacturer, whose business was hit by a change in fashion in the late 1850s and complicated by the financial
difficulties of his partner, William Barnard of Lodgemore Mill. Alfred Ritchie & Co. were making cloth at Ham
Mill by 1863; they worked it until 1900 when they sold it to Thomas Bond Worth & Sons, carpet weavers, who had
300 looms there and employed c. 700 hands in 1907. Apart from a few years after 1941 when the mill was put to
wartime uses, Bond Worth carried on carpet-weaving at Ham Mill until 1954, and from c. 1920 a factory north of
Bowbridge, formerly the Eagle brewery, was used for spinning the yarn for the mill. In 1954 the Bowbridge factory
was given up and from that date Ham Mill was used only for spinning for the firm's parent works in Stourport.
From 1906 until the Second World War a part of Ham Mill was occupied by firms of cloth-merchants. The buildings
on the site, which in 1833 comprised the original mill building and three new blocks put up in 1814, 1825, and
1832 respectively, were severely damaged by fires in 1841 and 1866. In 1971 some substantial early1 9th-century
stone-built blocks survived together with later brick buildings.
The factory was still making carpets up to 1999 when it was closed down and all the looms were sold to a company in Thailand.
Pics
The Carpet Shop
Ham Mill External
Woodworking Side
The Chimney
Chimney Bottom
Looking Up
Chimney Door
The Boiler
Fuel Tank for the Boiler
Outbuildings
Random empty space
Pigeon Poo Barn - This was absolutely minging
More Random Junk
Massive Factory Space
Some art found inside
Extractor Fan
Hopper
Inside Hopper
And there's more...
Visit
Visited with Huey, we have been trying to get this one done for a few months now and finally managed
to hook up with Site Manager and arrange a date to visit. Unfortunately this wasn't to be as on the
day he was ill. Three weeks later we have rescheduled and are on our way!
If anyone does want to have a wonder around please get in touch with the Manager, he's a really nice
guy but is very busy and the last thing he needs is to be giving guided tours to explorers all day long!
Trying to break in would not be a good idea as the place is locked up very tightly and securely.
All in all we spent about three hours on the site, couldn't find the remains of where the water wheels
were but other than that I think we got everything.
Thank you very much Rod! We really appreciated your hospitality and the history lessons!
History
Ham Mill was occupied in 1608 by Robert Tayloe, and in 1634 Robert Tayloe, clothier, and his son Thomas
sold it to Samuel Webb. Samuel received grants of protection against the plundering of his goods from
Prince Maurice in 1642 and Prince Rupert in 1643. (fn. 137) He was succeeded by his grandson Samuel who
owned the mill in 1685; it then had two fullingstocks, a gig-mill, a grist-mill, dye-house, presshouse,
and 5 racks, and the property also included a mansion called Doleman's Ham and a considerable estate.
Samuel was succeeded, apparently before 1723, by his son Robert). Robert's widow Anne was entitled to
dower in part of the property while the remainder passed to his aunt Susannah, who, however, granted her
estate to Anne for life. On Susannah's death in 1737 her reversionary right passed to the daughters of
William Webb, Mary who married Samuel Aldridge and Jane who married Ralph Lampthorn, but in 1743 Samuel,
Ralph, and Jane joined with Anne Webb in a release of Ham Mill to James Winchcombe, mercer, reserving to
Anne an annuity and the right to occupy the house for life. Winchcombe was making cloth at the mill in
1764. By 1803 John Knowles and a partner were working it, and it was put up for sale in 1812 following
Knowles's death. It was apparently bought by Sir Paul Baghott of Lypiatt Park, and in 1822 it was owned
by Obadiah Wathen and occupied by Joseph Wathen.
Shortly afterwards Ham Mill was acquired by William Marling, founder of one of the most successful clothier
families of the Stroud region. William took his son Thomas into partnership at Ham Mill in 1825, and in 1832
another son, Samuel Stephens Marling, joined the firm. In 1833 the mill was powered by a steam-engine in
addition to 3 water-wheels, and in 1838, when Thomas and Samuel were carrying on the business, it contained
45 power-looms and 29 handlooms. By 1842 Ham Mill belonged to Nathaniel Samuel Marling, another of William's sons,
but it was occupied by William Stanton of Stafford's Mill. It possibly became a saw-mill after 1846 when Marling
leased it to Thomas Barrett of Painswick, turner, but from 1852 the lessee was Thomas Sampson, a woollen shawl
manufacturer, whose business was hit by a change in fashion in the late 1850s and complicated by the financial
difficulties of his partner, William Barnard of Lodgemore Mill. Alfred Ritchie & Co. were making cloth at Ham
Mill by 1863; they worked it until 1900 when they sold it to Thomas Bond Worth & Sons, carpet weavers, who had
300 looms there and employed c. 700 hands in 1907. Apart from a few years after 1941 when the mill was put to
wartime uses, Bond Worth carried on carpet-weaving at Ham Mill until 1954, and from c. 1920 a factory north of
Bowbridge, formerly the Eagle brewery, was used for spinning the yarn for the mill. In 1954 the Bowbridge factory
was given up and from that date Ham Mill was used only for spinning for the firm's parent works in Stourport.
From 1906 until the Second World War a part of Ham Mill was occupied by firms of cloth-merchants. The buildings
on the site, which in 1833 comprised the original mill building and three new blocks put up in 1814, 1825, and
1832 respectively, were severely damaged by fires in 1841 and 1866. In 1971 some substantial early1 9th-century
stone-built blocks survived together with later brick buildings.
The factory was still making carpets up to 1999 when it was closed down and all the looms were sold to a company in Thailand.
Pics
The Carpet Shop
Ham Mill External
Woodworking Side
The Chimney
Chimney Bottom
Looking Up
Chimney Door
The Boiler
Fuel Tank for the Boiler
Outbuildings
Random empty space
Pigeon Poo Barn - This was absolutely minging
More Random Junk
Massive Factory Space
Some art found inside
Extractor Fan
Hopper
Inside Hopper
And there's more...
Last edited:
Shame about the pigeon crap, stinks. 
