5/5 penny s. 2 years ago on Google
The
Hat
Works
is
a
museum
in
Stockport,
Greater
Manchester,
England,
which
opened
in
2000.
Before
that,
smaller
displays
of
hatting
equipment
were
exhibited
in
Stockport
Museum
and
in
the
former
Battersby
hat
factory.
The
building,
Wellington
Mill,
was
built
as
an
early
fireproof
cotton
spinning
mill
in
1830–1831
before
becoming
a
hat
works
in
the
1890s.
It
is
a
Grade
II
listed
building
on
the
A6,
Wellington
Road
South,
between
the
town
centre
and
Stockport
railway
station.
Stockport
played
a
pivotal
role
in
the
textile
industry
of
the
United
Kingdom.
Firstly
it
was
silk
throwing.
In
the
early
18th
century,
England
was
not
capable
of
producing
silk
of
sufficient
quality
to
be
used
as
the
warp
in
woven
fabrics.
Suitable
thread
had
to
be
imported
from
Italy,
where
it
was
spun
on
water-powered
machinery.
In
about
1717
John
Lombe
travelled
to
Italy
and
copied
the
design
of
the
machinery.
On
his
return
he
obtained
a
patent
on
the
design,
and
went
into
production
in
Derby.
When
Lombe
tried
to
renew
his
patent
in
1732,
silk
spinners
from
towns
including
Manchester,
Macclesfield,
Leek,
and
Stockport
successfully
petitioned
parliament
to
not
renew
the
patent.
Lombe
was
paid
off,
and
in
1732
Stockport's
first
silk
mill
(indeed,
the
first
water-powered
textile
mill
in
the
north-west
of
England)
was
opened
on
a
bend
in
the
Mersey.
Further
mills
were
opened
on
local
brooks.
Silk
weaving
expanded
until
in
1769
two
thousand
people
were
employed
in
the
industry.
By
1772
the
boom
had
turned
to
bust,
possibly
due
to
cheaper
foreign
imports;
by
the
late
1770s
trade
had
recovered.
The
cycle
of
boom
and
bust
would
continue
throughout
the
textile
era.
On
21
July
1784
Samuel
Oldknow,
arrived
in
Stockport
and
bought
a
house
and
warehouse
on
Hillgate,
he
gave
out
530
lengths
of
cotton
warp
to
the
local
hand
loom
weavers
who
returned
the
woven
pieces,
these
he
traded
through
a
London
agent.
This
was
the
Putting-out
system
that
survived
in
weaving
long
after
the
factory
system
was
normal
for
spinning.
He
had
commercial
connections
with
Arkwright
and
with
Drinkwater.
To
obtain
yarn
he
opened
a
mill
in
1791
at
the
Carrs,
on
the
Tin
Brook
and
a
large
mill
at
Mellor.
The
combination
of
a
good
water
power
site
(described
by
Rodgers
as
"by
far
the
finest
of
any
site
within
the
lowland"
[of
the
Manchester
region]
)
and
a
large
female
and
child
workforce
used
to
textile
factory
work
meant
Stockport
was
well
placed
to
take
advantage
of
the
phenomenal
expansion
in
cotton
processing
in
the
late
18th
century.
Warren's
mill
in
the
market
place
was
the
first.
Power
came
from
an
undershot
water
wheel
in
a
deep
pit,
fed
by
a
tunnel
from
the
River
Goyt.
In
1796,
James
Harrisson
drove
a
wide
cut
from
the
Tame
which
fed
several
mills
in
the
Park,
Portwood.;
Ashmore
(1975).
In
1786,
Henry
Marsland
gained
water
rights
to
erect
another
mill
adjacent
to
the
55
yards
(50
m)
by
12
yards
(11
m)
Park
silk
mill
which
he
already
owned.
The
two
Carrs
silk
mills
had
converted
to
cotton
before
1785,
and
the
larger
silk
mills
such
as
Park
and
Logwood
followed.
Hatmaking
was
established
in
north
Cheshire
and
south-east
Lancashire
by
the
16th
century.
In
the
early
19th
century
the
number
of
hatters
in
the
area
began
to
increase,
and
a
reputation
for
quality
work
was
created.
The
London
firm
of
Miller
Christy
bought
out
a
local
firm
in
1826,
a
move
described
by
Arrowsmith
as
a
"watershed".
By
the
latter
part
of
the
century
hatting
had
changed
from
a
manual
to
a
mechanised
process,
and
was
one
of
Stockport's
primary
employers;
the
area,
with
nearby
Denton,
was
the
leading
national
centre.
Support
industries,
such
as
blockmaking,
trimmings,
and
leatherware,
became
established.
The
First
World
War
cut
off
overseas
markets,
which
established
local
industries
and
eroded
Stockport's
eminence.
