Styal, Wilmslow,
Cheshire SK9 4LA. Telephone: 01625 445 896 (Infoline).
Website:www.nationaltrust.org.uk/main/w-quarrybankmillandstyalestate.
Email: quarrybankmill@nationaltrust.org.uk.
This is
a major Georgian mill, restored as a fully working cotton mill and museum,
which is situated close to Manchester
Airport, in Styal village alongside the River Bollin. This
is a highly recommended visit for those interested in the history of
Manchester and its industries. Tours available of the mill and its hospital,
school and the Apprentices' House.
Samuel Greg founded the mill in 1784, and it is still producing calico
which can be bought at the mill shop. Products were never finished at
Styal - they were and still are sent away for bleaching and dyeing.
Products can be bought at other National Trust venues. The mill is operated
by former mill workers, mechanical and hand-spinning and weaving can
be seen in progress on the mill factory floor.
The original water wheel, built by Fairbairn, was 32ft high and 21ft
wide but had decayed so much it was useless and has been replaced by
a wheel from Pateley Bridge in Yorkshire. It is the most powerful water
wheel still in use in Britain and was visited by the Queen Mother in
1986. The mill tour takes well over an hour, but is well worth it.
Is a large detached
house about 5 minute's walk from the mill. It housed about 60 boys and
girls. The children came from local workhouses or from parents who could
not afford to keep them. The house is now turned into a museum which
is open to the public and guided tours are conducted by an originally
costumed custodian. It can be seen how the children lived, very basically
and primitively by today's standards, but compared to other mills their
treatment would have been regarded as decent and humane by the standards
of the day. A
doctor and school was provided for them, where they learned to read
and write - though their main purpose was almost certainly to provide
readily available, trained and cheap millworkers.
GUIDED TOURS
Average length of visit: Mill: 1½ hours approx. Combined Mill
& Apprentice House: 2½ hours. Onboard coach welcome. General
guided tour, out of hours tours and special interest tours available
including specialist tour with the chief engineer.
PARKING
Parking, 200yds, Coaches under 12ft high can drop off/collect from Mill
yard by arrangement. 200 yard walk downhill to the Mill.
ON-SITE CATERING
Mill Restaurant (licensed), assisted service, 90 covers off Mill yard.
Children's menu during school holidays. Set menu, private room available.
CONTACT DETAILS
Telephone
numbers:
01625 445
896 (info line)
01625 527468.
Fax: 01625 539 267.
Email: quarrybankmill@nationaltrust.org.uk
Website: www.nationaltrust.org.uk/main/w-quarrybankmillandstyalestate
ADMISSION PRICES
Please
note - prices as of March 2010 - but prices may change over time - enquire
before setting out.
Gift Aid
Admission (Standard Admission prices in brackets) Mill, Apprentice House
and garden: adult £14.20 (£12.89), child £7.05 (£6.40),
family £35.40 (£32.16). Mill and Apprentice House or garden:
adult £10.50 (£9.54), child £5.25 (£4.77), family
£25.20 (£22.90). Mill only: adult £7.35 (£6.68),
child £3.90 (£3.53), family £18.60 (£16.90).
Garden only: adult £5 (£4.54), child £2.50 (£2.27),
family £12.50 (£11.36). Garden upgarde: adult £3.50
(£3.18), child £1.75 (£1.59), family £8.75 (£7.95).
Estate: (Standard Admission) Cars £4, motorcycles £2, coaches
£15. Free upgrade when travelling by public transport or cycle.
OPENING
TIMES
Please note times as of March 2010 - but times may change over time
- enquire before setting out.
Open Bank
Holiday Mondays, Boxing Day, 1 January and 15 and 16 February. Closed
24 and 25 December. Mill: last admission one hour before closing. Apprentice
House guided tours: limited availability – timed tickets only (available
from Mill on early arrival. Popular school visit destination during
school term time. Restaurant, garden and shop open daily 26 to 31 December.
The Garden closes at 3.pm.
FACILITIES
Shop (gifts, souvenirs, cloth), licensed cafe, toilets, parking.
Wheelchair users please phone in advance - some access, though certain
areas of the mill inaccessible or difficult. Sympathetic Hearing Scheme
- audio tapes. Braille and large print guides available. Talking Map.
Snacks and light refreshments at the Mill Pantry. Dogs allowed under
close control on estate. On lead only in Mill yard.
LOCATION
1½ miles north of Wilmslow off B5166. 2½ miles from M56
junction 5, 10 miles south of Manchester. Buses from Chesterfield-Airport.
Rail station nearby at Styal (not Sundays).
FACILITIES FOR
THE DISABLED
Parking:
in main car park. Buggy transfer available most days. Transfer available.
Building: 61 steps to entrance. Ramped access from car park down
to Mill Yard. 2 wheelchairs. Lift to function rooms or stairs with handrails.
Mill: 3 floors accessible by ramps or chairlift. Mill: Restricted access
for wheelchairs to Mill, particularly battery operated. Access to 3
floors by ramps and stair lifts for most wheelchairs. Limited numbers
of wheelchairs permitted at any one time for safety reasons. 2 wheelchairs
available for use. Function rooms: Lift to function rooms or stairs
with handrails. Apprentice House: level access to ground floor only.
Toilets: adapted WC off Mill yard also one in function block.
Grounds: accessible route.
Shop: 7 steps to entrance with handrail. Stairlift available.
Refreshments:
level entrance.
Was built by Samuel
Greg for adult workers, and included a shop and a chapel. To maintain
the workers close to the mill, the Old Oak Cottages were built in 1820s,
with their very modern outside toilets, and a spacious two rooms per
floor. Even so, they were overcrowded with two families per house. Each
house had a vegetable plot, so that tenants could be virtually self-sufficient.
Close by are
older farm houses such as Cruck Cottage, (pictured above right), pretty
enough for any post card. Considering it is only two miles from Manchester
Airport, the area is remarkably quiet and peaceful, and the adjacent
Styal Country Park facilitates pleasant walks in the beautiful Cheshire
countryside.
Sources: See
Bibliography - Books about Manchester
