Post by Les on Feb 16, 2016 11:36:18 GMT
Maidstone was built around its position as a central market town to the agricultural industry of the surrounding . Its position on the River Medway (which was in turn fed by a series of tributaries) allowed goods to be transported in and out of the town quickly for trade.
The River Len and Loose Stream provided water power to drive numerous mills that could be used for many purposes: fulling, corngrinding, papermaking etc.
The word ‘paper' is derived from papyrus, a plant that was once abundant in Egypt and which was used to produce a thick, paper-like material by the ancient Egyptians, Greeks and Romans. Papyrus, however, is only one of the predecessors of paper that are collectively known by the generic term ‘tapa' and which were mostly made from the inner bark of the paper mulberry, fig and daphne trees.
Paper as we know it traces its roots back to China at the beginning of the first millennium AD. Traditional Chinese records give the credit for its development to one T'sai Lun (about 105AD). He was subsequently deified as the god of papermakers!
The craft of papermaking spread throughout the world and remained a relatively small-scale, artisan activity until paper production became industrialised during the 19th century. Originally intended purely for writing and printing purposes, a dazzling array of paper products are available to today's consumer.
Paper was produced at places such as Turkey Mill and Hayle Mill. Notable enterprises included the Whatman family and W&R Balston beginning in the 18th century and what was to become the Reed group had several paper and cardboard milling plants in Maidstone.
some of the Fulling Mills were changed to Papermaking Mills
Fulling, also known as tucking or walking, is a step in woollen clothmaking which involves the cleansing of cloth (particularly wool) to eliminate oils, dirt, and other impurities, and making it thicker. The worker who does the job is a fuller, tucker, or walker,[1] all of which have become common surnames.
James Whatman in 1733 built a paper Mill on what was a fulling Mill Hurst Mill or Boxley Mill on the river Len.1654 is the earlest known referances to the Mill.but earlier activity believed .
The Whatman Mill was known as The Old Mill .Around the site of Old Mill Farm.Near A20/M20 junction 7 Leeds.
James Whatman let part of the Mill to Richard Harris who Died in 1739 James married his widow he then also owned Turkey Mill the west side of Mote Park.
most paper was made from old rags old ropes and sails.these were boiled to break down the fibres.This was before they imported wood pulp mainly from Scandinania.
Maidstone was well suited for making Paper .Been it stands between the NorthNowns and The Greensand ridge. with the Loose Valley in between (The loose Mill stream had 13 Mills at one time ,but not all making paper).
Watman was the first to make wove papers till then all papers were laid.This type of paper did not have the wire mark that the laid paper had.And was used by many people allorer the world.In the Capital Building in Washington there is several state documents on Whatman paper with washington's signature on.
Paper was also suplied to The East India Company.
In 1758 James whatman Died the Mill was thought to be the largest in england.His son James took over and added blue dye to the rags which got rid of the yellow tone of the paper.
1772 after a request from the Society of Antiquaries made paper 53"x30"the larges hand made sheet of Paper.
1774 William Balston joined Whatman as an Apprenice later to become as well known as James Whatman.
1775 whatman brought Upper Mill Loose that was off Salt lane.
1787 Whatman brought Poll Mill that was the west end of Mote Park.
Whatman retired near the end of the 1700s.
Balston formeed a partnership with the Hollingworth brothers.
previus to this John Rennie had visited Watman as a representive forBoulton,Watt & Co laying the way for a steam powered Mill.
Balston went into buisness by hisself .About a mile awy from Turkey Mill beside the river Medway was area called Spring Field as it had springs all over it.
Balston asked Boulton What & Co to instal a giant Steam engine.
1805 to 1807 James Watt and John Rennie supervised the the installation to the Mill that was called Springfield Mill after the field.
The New Mill site had a laboratory which was new idea then.
After the Mill started there was a danger of fire and contamination from the Boiler so a new chimney was buil 500 feet away.with a sloping tunnel .
1803 a new way of making paper by the Fourdrinier brothers more quicker and wider than done before.
Bolton did not take it up after instecting it in Herefordshire.It was not untill 1931 that the first Papermaking machine was installed.
Kent formed it's own Assocciation of Master Papers of Kent.That would meet at the Star Inn that became the Royal Star Hotel now The Royal Star arcade.
William Balston was Chairman and also chairman of Assocciation of Master Papers of England.
Springfield had 10 vats in 1930 so was the largest paper Mill making hand made paper in the world.
The Whatman watermark was shared by Springfield and Turkey mills till 1859.W & R Balston had the sole right to use the Whatman water mark W & R Balston name was changed to Whatman Ltd.
The Whatman Water mark is used to authentification of old books and documents.
Queen Victoria used Whatman writing paper.
Nepoleon At St Helena had stocks of Whatman paper.
Dispatches from Waterloo were on Watman paper.
Watman name in Russian became a generic term for drawing paper.
W &R Balston swiched to making laboratory filter papers as up to the first world war much had been manufactored in Germany
H.Reeve Angel was the sole selling agent who had a office in New York.lead to Watman filter paper becoming the became the best known in the world.
1962 the company stopped producing art paper and only made scientific and industrial papers
the early 70s W&R BalstonLtd formred association with J.Barcham Green Ltd,as a Company was formed when W&R Balston merged with H.Reeve Angel in 1974 to form Whatman Reeve Angel.
---------------------------------------------------
Upper Tovil Mill
This was a fulling mill, later a paper mill. The mill had an overshot waterwheel but was burnt down in 1894. The fire damaged mill was bought and rebuilt by Albert Reed, acting as the founding point of the company that would go on to become Reed International.
The River Len and Loose Stream provided water power to drive numerous mills that could be used for many purposes: fulling, corngrinding, papermaking etc.
The word ‘paper' is derived from papyrus, a plant that was once abundant in Egypt and which was used to produce a thick, paper-like material by the ancient Egyptians, Greeks and Romans. Papyrus, however, is only one of the predecessors of paper that are collectively known by the generic term ‘tapa' and which were mostly made from the inner bark of the paper mulberry, fig and daphne trees.
Paper as we know it traces its roots back to China at the beginning of the first millennium AD. Traditional Chinese records give the credit for its development to one T'sai Lun (about 105AD). He was subsequently deified as the god of papermakers!
The craft of papermaking spread throughout the world and remained a relatively small-scale, artisan activity until paper production became industrialised during the 19th century. Originally intended purely for writing and printing purposes, a dazzling array of paper products are available to today's consumer.
Paper was produced at places such as Turkey Mill and Hayle Mill. Notable enterprises included the Whatman family and W&R Balston beginning in the 18th century and what was to become the Reed group had several paper and cardboard milling plants in Maidstone.
some of the Fulling Mills were changed to Papermaking Mills
Fulling, also known as tucking or walking, is a step in woollen clothmaking which involves the cleansing of cloth (particularly wool) to eliminate oils, dirt, and other impurities, and making it thicker. The worker who does the job is a fuller, tucker, or walker,[1] all of which have become common surnames.
James Whatman in 1733 built a paper Mill on what was a fulling Mill Hurst Mill or Boxley Mill on the river Len.1654 is the earlest known referances to the Mill.but earlier activity believed .
The Whatman Mill was known as The Old Mill .Around the site of Old Mill Farm.Near A20/M20 junction 7 Leeds.
James Whatman let part of the Mill to Richard Harris who Died in 1739 James married his widow he then also owned Turkey Mill the west side of Mote Park.
most paper was made from old rags old ropes and sails.these were boiled to break down the fibres.This was before they imported wood pulp mainly from Scandinania.
Maidstone was well suited for making Paper .Been it stands between the NorthNowns and The Greensand ridge. with the Loose Valley in between (The loose Mill stream had 13 Mills at one time ,but not all making paper).
Watman was the first to make wove papers till then all papers were laid.This type of paper did not have the wire mark that the laid paper had.And was used by many people allorer the world.In the Capital Building in Washington there is several state documents on Whatman paper with washington's signature on.
Paper was also suplied to The East India Company.
In 1758 James whatman Died the Mill was thought to be the largest in england.His son James took over and added blue dye to the rags which got rid of the yellow tone of the paper.
1772 after a request from the Society of Antiquaries made paper 53"x30"the larges hand made sheet of Paper.
1774 William Balston joined Whatman as an Apprenice later to become as well known as James Whatman.
1775 whatman brought Upper Mill Loose that was off Salt lane.
1787 Whatman brought Poll Mill that was the west end of Mote Park.
Whatman retired near the end of the 1700s.
Balston formeed a partnership with the Hollingworth brothers.
previus to this John Rennie had visited Watman as a representive forBoulton,Watt & Co laying the way for a steam powered Mill.
Balston went into buisness by hisself .About a mile awy from Turkey Mill beside the river Medway was area called Spring Field as it had springs all over it.
Balston asked Boulton What & Co to instal a giant Steam engine.
1805 to 1807 James Watt and John Rennie supervised the the installation to the Mill that was called Springfield Mill after the field.
The New Mill site had a laboratory which was new idea then.
After the Mill started there was a danger of fire and contamination from the Boiler so a new chimney was buil 500 feet away.with a sloping tunnel .
1803 a new way of making paper by the Fourdrinier brothers more quicker and wider than done before.
Bolton did not take it up after instecting it in Herefordshire.It was not untill 1931 that the first Papermaking machine was installed.
Kent formed it's own Assocciation of Master Papers of Kent.That would meet at the Star Inn that became the Royal Star Hotel now The Royal Star arcade.
William Balston was Chairman and also chairman of Assocciation of Master Papers of England.
Springfield had 10 vats in 1930 so was the largest paper Mill making hand made paper in the world.
The Whatman watermark was shared by Springfield and Turkey mills till 1859.W & R Balston had the sole right to use the Whatman water mark W & R Balston name was changed to Whatman Ltd.
The Whatman Water mark is used to authentification of old books and documents.
Queen Victoria used Whatman writing paper.
Nepoleon At St Helena had stocks of Whatman paper.
Dispatches from Waterloo were on Watman paper.
Watman name in Russian became a generic term for drawing paper.
W &R Balston swiched to making laboratory filter papers as up to the first world war much had been manufactored in Germany
H.Reeve Angel was the sole selling agent who had a office in New York.lead to Watman filter paper becoming the became the best known in the world.
1962 the company stopped producing art paper and only made scientific and industrial papers
the early 70s W&R BalstonLtd formred association with J.Barcham Green Ltd,as a Company was formed when W&R Balston merged with H.Reeve Angel in 1974 to form Whatman Reeve Angel.
---------------------------------------------------
Upper Tovil Mill
This was a fulling mill, later a paper mill. The mill had an overshot waterwheel but was burnt down in 1894. The fire damaged mill was bought and rebuilt by Albert Reed, acting as the founding point of the company that would go on to become Reed International.