Introduction
Myself, @KPUrban_ and @Wastelandr met up several weeks back to cover a few places around Cambridgeshire, the primary motive of the trip was to visit Mullard’s Observatory but we also spent a few hours at this old mill site. I mentioned it to KP as I found it on OS Maps a while back, he recognised it and had already been so he was the tour guide for this one!
Information & History
The history of this site traces back to the 1600s where paper was first produced here at a small capacity. The buildings were owned by several firms during the time of operation. These include Togwood from 1807, Edward & Sons, Reed P&B and later on Spicers from 1917 until closure. An online source suggests part of the site closed in the seventies but much of the site was still operative until about 2015, history is patchy here, I am not sure whether it still operated as a paper mill between the 1970s and 2015, or whether it was repurposed.
The original part as it appears on 1900s OS maps:
The site has two main parts: the original set of buildings to the south, which have been largely modernised, and a newer set of warehouses, factory space and offices further north. Some of the northern parts have been redeveloped and some of the derelict parts sit on an active site. The larger part was later used by stationery company John Dickinson which was bought out by Spicers in 1996 until the company moved from this site to Red Lodge in around a decade later.
The Explore
We checked out the older part of the site first, it was pretty bland for the most part, but some of the other buildings were interesting such as the squash court and the large house on site which had been converted to office use. The newer parts were much more impressive with large sprawling warehouses and factory floors. I’ve always been a sucker for large empty industrial spaces and this one impressed me. To get to the newer John Dickinson section we had to walk directly past an active security hut but nobody bothered us and we were in and out undetected.
Photos
Most of the buildings in the original section are fairly dull due to being well-stripped and modernised.
Swifty moving onto some of the other buildings in this part. KP pointed out the old squash court in the trees which I’d have probably missed if he didn’t mention it. For many years there was an annual fete and sports day held here with squash being one of the main activities.
The converted house-like building, I’m under the impression this would’ve been where the higher executives of the company would work:
Moving up to the other section of the site revealed a large office block with John Dickinson branding:
Entering this large factory space excited me a bit, it reminded me slightly of the main factory floor at the Jeld Wen timber yard in Lowestoft:
I enjoyed this little engineers workshop:
A lot of the rooms around here gave off a nice old industrial vibe with the colours and decay and was one of my favourite parts of the site:
CONTINUED…
Myself, @KPUrban_ and @Wastelandr met up several weeks back to cover a few places around Cambridgeshire, the primary motive of the trip was to visit Mullard’s Observatory but we also spent a few hours at this old mill site. I mentioned it to KP as I found it on OS Maps a while back, he recognised it and had already been so he was the tour guide for this one!
Information & History
The history of this site traces back to the 1600s where paper was first produced here at a small capacity. The buildings were owned by several firms during the time of operation. These include Togwood from 1807, Edward & Sons, Reed P&B and later on Spicers from 1917 until closure. An online source suggests part of the site closed in the seventies but much of the site was still operative until about 2015, history is patchy here, I am not sure whether it still operated as a paper mill between the 1970s and 2015, or whether it was repurposed.
The original part as it appears on 1900s OS maps:
The site has two main parts: the original set of buildings to the south, which have been largely modernised, and a newer set of warehouses, factory space and offices further north. Some of the northern parts have been redeveloped and some of the derelict parts sit on an active site. The larger part was later used by stationery company John Dickinson which was bought out by Spicers in 1996 until the company moved from this site to Red Lodge in around a decade later.
The Explore
We checked out the older part of the site first, it was pretty bland for the most part, but some of the other buildings were interesting such as the squash court and the large house on site which had been converted to office use. The newer parts were much more impressive with large sprawling warehouses and factory floors. I’ve always been a sucker for large empty industrial spaces and this one impressed me. To get to the newer John Dickinson section we had to walk directly past an active security hut but nobody bothered us and we were in and out undetected.
Photos
Most of the buildings in the original section are fairly dull due to being well-stripped and modernised.
Swifty moving onto some of the other buildings in this part. KP pointed out the old squash court in the trees which I’d have probably missed if he didn’t mention it. For many years there was an annual fete and sports day held here with squash being one of the main activities.
The converted house-like building, I’m under the impression this would’ve been where the higher executives of the company would work:
Moving up to the other section of the site revealed a large office block with John Dickinson branding:
Entering this large factory space excited me a bit, it reminded me slightly of the main factory floor at the Jeld Wen timber yard in Lowestoft:
I enjoyed this little engineers workshop:
A lot of the rooms around here gave off a nice old industrial vibe with the colours and decay and was one of my favourite parts of the site:
CONTINUED…
