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Summary

Site of Lower Factory Mill, also called the Blanket Factory; the latest and largest of the woollen mill sites established by John Berry in the early 19th century. It ceased production in around 1880 and had a variety of uses before being mostly converted to housing in the early 20th century.

Location

Protected Status: none recorded

Other References/Statuses

• Old DCC SMR Ref: SX68NE/135

Monument Type(s) and Dates

• WOOLLEN MILL (XIX - 1820 AD to 1880 AD (Between))
• HOUSE (XIX to Early 20th Century - 1900 AD to 1920 AD (Between))

Full description

Ordnance Survey, 1880-1899, First Edition Ordnance 25 inch map (Cartographic). SDV336179.

‘Lower Factory (Woollen, Disused)’ depicted on the First Edition Ordnance Survey map (approximately 1880s in date).

Devon County Council, 1974, Survey of Watermills in Devon: Gazetteer (Report - Survey). SDV83967.

Site visited in 1973 (estimate). 18th century mill. In present use as council housing. Leat in good condition passing under building.

Bodman, M., 1998, Water-Powered Sites in Devon, 39.39 (Report - non-specific). SDV305931.

Rice, I., 2002, The Book of Chagford. A Town Apart, 69 (Monograph). SDV356605.

The latest and largest of Chagford's woollen-mills was the Lower or Blanket Factory, built around 1820 on the site of the original riverside tucking-mill. It took water from the same leat as the main mill (subsequently known as the Higher Factory) at Factory Cross. The new factory had a wide range of power-driven looms as well as felting tables and various finishing processes.
Berry's mill complex was a substantial enterprise in its day and at busy times gave full employment to up to 120 local men and large numbers of other part-time workers, both in the mill and as 'outworkers'. Many children were also employed by the mill until well into the 1870s and the Chagford population peaked at this time at just over 1800.
After the decline of the woollen industry and the closure of the mills in around 1880, the Blanket Factory, which is a substantial structure on four or five floors, had a variety of subsidiary uses before finally being converted into houses at the start of the 20th century. Even today, parts of this large building lie unused.

Ordnance Survey, 2011, MasterMap (Cartographic). SDV346129.

Sources / Further Reading

Associated Monuments

Associated Finds: none recorded

Associated Events: none recorded

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