History
A Brief Story of the Woollen Industry of Haltwhistle
Wool has been processed in Haltwhistle since earliest times. It is likely that a fulling mill was operating on Manor lands at Town Foot from as early as the 13th and there is documentary evidence of a mill on this site from 1600s. For 150 years the Saint family ran a woollen processing business here. Founded in 1749 initially as dyers, bleachers and probably also fullers, the business grew to become a woollen manufactory employing 16 hands at its peak in 1881. It was ceased operational in 1901.
In 1762 two Quakers,John Reay and Daniel Coats, established a fulling mill later known as Low Mill and a weaving establishment later known as Factory House. This business was subsequently taken over by Thomas Bell, flannel manufacturer and by 1834 was run by William Madgen. Initially weaving continued to be carried out at factory house but had transferred to a site with water power by 1841. By 1848 Madgen had been joined in business by John Pattinson but had removed his works to Bardon Mill by 1856 and joined a new partner, Scott. John Pattinson and George Pattinson the younger continued the business in the Burn mills but had ceased trading by 1871.
These are the bald facts as far as they can be established today but they give little idea of the friendships and rivalries of those involved in the businesses and the dramas and crises of an industry in the period of transition between an agrarian and an industrial economy. Spanning as they did the advent of steam power, the arrival of the railways and the transformation of the tools of their trade to powered machines the entrepreneurs of the Haltwhistle Woollen Industry must have had an eventful and fascinating story to tell. Certainly, the small number of contemporary documents we have found show a vivid and eccentric cast of characters earning their living and providing for generations of their families through the processing of wool along the banks of the Haltwhistle Burn.
In the beginning.
Find out about the Geology of Haltwhistle Burn here....
Riches from the earth.
Discover Haltwhistle’s long history of mining for coal here...
Seventeen and a Half Candles
Lighting up Haltwhistle- find the story of the gas works here....
Tiles, Bricks and Pipes
Discover Haltwhistle’s history of brick and pipe making here...