Time for an update me thinks on this mill which was first reported by Clebby back in August 2015. Myself and @Oort were in the area to check out a nearby underground site, so we decided to quickly pop into this mill first. And it was a rush job, I had to be at work a hundred miles away that evening.
I can report that since August 2015, there is no change. Nothing has moved or disappeared. Looking exactly the same now as it did in Clebby's report.
HISTORY
Plagiarized with apologies:
The local textile industry dates back to the Middle Ages and evidence for a mill at Longfords survives in the Minchinhampton Custumal of 1304. It was described there as a water mill which is interpreted as meaning it was a corn mill. However by the 1600s it was a combined fulling and corn mill, typical of many in the valleys.
In 1759 Thomas Playne leased the estate, house, farm and mill. An estate map of 1766 shows the extent of the property and location of the buildings. Thomas Playne was one of many local and generally small suppliers to the East India Company. Thomas’s sons William and Peter Playne expanded the mill considerably. They built two other water powered mills, creating a twelve acre lake to power them and buying their first Boulton & Watt steam engine in 1815. The brothers divided Longfords and Dunkirk between them with William occupying the whole Longfords site. However they continued to supply the East India Company as a partnership and in 1820 were apparently the largest supplier of cloth to it, £20,000 – worth. It was estimated that the cloth if laid end to end would have reached from the mill to their London office.
The dynamic leadership of William and his son William junior ensured that the firm William Playne & Co. adapted to the innovations in production introduced in the 19th century and it enormously increased with the development of new markets.
The 20th century saw equally dramatic changes as the firm, now a subsidiary of Winterbotham Strachan & Playne Ltd, struggled to survive in often difficult times. This meant extensive new brick buildings which have since been removed, new machinery and the introduction of electricity. Products also adjusted with demand and in the 1930s the mill provided cloth for the Prince of Wales’s, the future Edward VIII, Rolls Royce. During the last phase of the mill’s life, from 1970 to 90, it was the largest manufacturer of tennis ball outside of the USA. The name William Playne & Co. continues as the trade name for the tennis ball cloth.
REPORT
The mill consists of two buildings joined together. A datestone on the left building (as seen in the photo) states 1858 and on the older building to the right 1828/1703. The estate has recently been converted into residential housing, but this mill remains empty. There are plans by the Stroudwater Textile Trust to convert the mill into a museum.
On an upper level, various bits of mill machinery have been clingfilmed and rest on pallets
It's looking a bit poorly
Moving into the older building, the roofs are low
Old graffiti can be found. I assume of a Spitfire?
The engine room. It is possible to climb down to the engines, but on this occassion not done due to time constraints and the calling of a nearby underground site. Here is a 125kW Gordon water turbine with a dynamo, a Bellis & Morcom steam engine with a dynamo, and a later Allen diesel motor.
The Gordon water turbine from above
I can report that since August 2015, there is no change. Nothing has moved or disappeared. Looking exactly the same now as it did in Clebby's report.
HISTORY
Plagiarized with apologies:
The local textile industry dates back to the Middle Ages and evidence for a mill at Longfords survives in the Minchinhampton Custumal of 1304. It was described there as a water mill which is interpreted as meaning it was a corn mill. However by the 1600s it was a combined fulling and corn mill, typical of many in the valleys.
In 1759 Thomas Playne leased the estate, house, farm and mill. An estate map of 1766 shows the extent of the property and location of the buildings. Thomas Playne was one of many local and generally small suppliers to the East India Company. Thomas’s sons William and Peter Playne expanded the mill considerably. They built two other water powered mills, creating a twelve acre lake to power them and buying their first Boulton & Watt steam engine in 1815. The brothers divided Longfords and Dunkirk between them with William occupying the whole Longfords site. However they continued to supply the East India Company as a partnership and in 1820 were apparently the largest supplier of cloth to it, £20,000 – worth. It was estimated that the cloth if laid end to end would have reached from the mill to their London office.
The dynamic leadership of William and his son William junior ensured that the firm William Playne & Co. adapted to the innovations in production introduced in the 19th century and it enormously increased with the development of new markets.
The 20th century saw equally dramatic changes as the firm, now a subsidiary of Winterbotham Strachan & Playne Ltd, struggled to survive in often difficult times. This meant extensive new brick buildings which have since been removed, new machinery and the introduction of electricity. Products also adjusted with demand and in the 1930s the mill provided cloth for the Prince of Wales’s, the future Edward VIII, Rolls Royce. During the last phase of the mill’s life, from 1970 to 90, it was the largest manufacturer of tennis ball outside of the USA. The name William Playne & Co. continues as the trade name for the tennis ball cloth.
REPORT
The mill consists of two buildings joined together. A datestone on the left building (as seen in the photo) states 1858 and on the older building to the right 1828/1703. The estate has recently been converted into residential housing, but this mill remains empty. There are plans by the Stroudwater Textile Trust to convert the mill into a museum.
On an upper level, various bits of mill machinery have been clingfilmed and rest on pallets
It's looking a bit poorly
Moving into the older building, the roofs are low
Old graffiti can be found. I assume of a Spitfire?
The engine room. It is possible to climb down to the engines, but on this occassion not done due to time constraints and the calling of a nearby underground site. Here is a 125kW Gordon water turbine with a dynamo, a Bellis & Morcom steam engine with a dynamo, and a later Allen diesel motor.
The Gordon water turbine from above
