Shop PortfoliosVolunteers

Review of Papermaking at Hayle Mill 1808-1987

Summer 2009
Summer 2009
:
Volume
24
, Number
1
Article starts on page
43
.

Hayle Mill, near Maidstone, Kent, was the last industrial handmade-paper mill of its kind in commercial operation in Britain. Through an orderly succession of six generations of one papermaking family, this small hand papermaking mill paralleled the introduction and development of the papermaking machine, with which it successfully and competently competed. Despite what one might think from the title, Papermaking at Hayle Mill 1808–1987 is not a sobering chronology of facts. The author, Maureen Green, a paper historian and wife of Simon Green, the Mill's last managing director, provides a portrait of both the nuances of papermaking as well as the commercial side of Hayle Mill's business. Coupling oral history with Hayle Mill's extensive archives, she harmoniously presents six generations of the Green family and their hard work, knowledge of papermaking, and insightful imagination. Green deftly shares the origins and, at times, complex evolutions behind many of the Mill's well-known papers, with particular attention to Hayle Mill's later papers of 1974 through 1987.

Purchase Issue

Other Articles in this Issue

Green begins by placing Hayle Mill within the geographical and historical context of papermaking in Kent, a county in which, during the eighteenth century, the wool trade was declining and the paper trade was growing. There was a redundant fulling mill on Thomas Smith's estate, Hayle Place, which he thought might bring in profit as a paper mill. Smith teamed up with John Pine, a nearby papermaker, and in 1805 began adapting the old mill into a state-ofthe- art two-vat paper mill. However, both financial setbacks and Smith's death in 1807, forced Pine to either lease or sell the Mill. In advertising Hayle Mill in 1812, Pine gives us one of the first accounts of its early products: it made "the finest Writing and Drawing Papers." In that same year it was leased to John Green who later purchased it in 1817. Exemplar of the new scholarship in the book is the information that John Green learned papermaking from his fatherin- law, William Turner, at Turner's Chafford Mill near Tunbridge Wells, Kent. From its inception as a paper mill, Hayle Mill continued to produce fine paper for generations. Its product grades included security, currency, writing, printing, drawing, and conservation papers. Possibly its first famous paper, known as RWS, was a watercolor paper licensed by the Royal Society of Painters in Watercolour (later known as the Royal Watercolour Society \[RWS\]). papermaking at hayle mill 1808–1987 Maureen Green. Newark, VT: Janus Press, 2008, in a limited edition of 200 copies. The book is 68 pages, 10 ¼ x 7 5/ x 1 inch, printed by Andrew Miller-Brown, on Finale, the last paper made at Hayle Mill, and bound by Audrey Holden in longstitch with a cover of Barcham Green Nefertiti paper. The book contains one map, one colored illustration, twenty line illustrations (primarily watermarks), and fourteen tipped-in paper samples. The book is accompanied by three components: a 10 x 36 inch map printed on Finale; a portfolio of twelve Barcham Green papers (10 x 7 inches each); a portfolio of nineteen historic photographs of Hayle Mill (10 x 7 ½ inches each); and a diagram of the Mill layout. The four components are housed in a linen-covered clamshell box (11 x 8 ½ x 2 ¾ inches), lined with Barcham Green Martian Badger paper. $80 Introduced in 1895, this paper was a carefully agreed upon and controlled product. At its outset, RWS was to be a primarily linen paper with no less than 75% linen (it usually had more, and any additional fibers were cotton), no bleach, no cooking in alkali, and no other sizing than gelatin with alum. Interestingly, salufer, a sodium silico fluoride, was permitted to retard the sizing's deterioration. These kinds of details throughout the book make it invaluable. Green ably documents the business, manufacture, name, watermark, furnish, and sizing changes of this respected paper which the Mill continued to make until its operations ceased in 1987. The twentieth century brought its own particular problems for Hayle Mill. Linen and cotton rags became difficult to obtain as more and more textiles contained synthetic fibers. Economics, too, packed wallops during the First and Second World Wars as well as times of depression. The author details many of the Mill's papermaking changes that took place during the twentieth century. Cotton linters and cuttings from new textiles were introduced. Aquapel and Cellofas-B-50 sizings were explored. Boldly, the Green family's ability to accept change and to work with innovation moved Hayle Mill beyond its established fine paper grades as it turned its resources to include making other paper products in order to stay alive. These included the production of loudspeaker cones, coffee filters, seed-testing papers, and beer mats. Exemplar of the Mill's adaptability was the dramatic introduction of a cylinder machine in 1947. This allowed the Mill to produce papers for a broader consumer base while it continued to carry on its specialized handmade fine papers. The cylinder machine produced new lines of watercolor and printing papers as well as filter papers, including L-tissue. Although the machine was a positive step in keeping the business alive, it quickly used up more and more of the Mill's resources, such as available pulp from the beaters. Problems were afoot. In the early 1970s, to keep the business from closing, the Greens sold Hayle Mill to W & R Balston Limited. The cylinder machine tissue paper line was transferred to Balston's Springfield Mill and the handmade paper production ceased. Public support and a petition to the government from Lord Kenneth Clark encouraged the tenacious Green family again to adapt to change. The author relates the wonderful story of Hayle Mill's rising again like a phoenix Mill Entrance 1921, one of nineteen historical photographs of Hayle Mill included with the book. Courtesy of Simon Barcham Green. Mrs. Yard preparing rag on the rag hurdle, a photograph taken in 1947, and included with the book. Courtesy of Simon Barcham Green. summer 2009 - 45 in 1974. Several bottles of very good champagne were involved. Barcham Green & Company Limited was founded with Simon Barcham Green as managing director. Former staff members were retained and new apprentices were trained. The new company continued many of Hayle Mill's popular fine papers as well as introduced new product lines. The book captures the nuances of paper production in Simon Green's valiant exploration and implementation of both redeveloped and new papers. As many of these papers were made for paper conservation and binding, this section is vital to conservators, binders, librarians, and archivists. Hayle Mill closed in 1987, a victim of a harsh economic recession and high taxes. Work was slowly curtailed over several months as existing raw materials were used up and employees found other jobs. The last paper made at Hayle Mill was called Finale. It is this paper upon which the book is printed. Hayle Mill worked to produce papers of the highest quality and Papermaking at Hayle Mill 1808–1987 is a fitting testimony to this achievement in word, images, paper samples, and fabrication. The construction and presentation of the book and its accompanying materials were superbly produced by Claire Van Vliet. The design's crisp simplicity and the ensemble's accomplished workmanship quietly and dramatically set off the beauty of the many Hayle Mill papers employed in its production. Except for the photographs and the mill diagram, all of the papers were made by Barcham Green & Company Limited. The historic photographs are particularly engaging, for they name the workers shown. They enhance the feeling given by the text—Papermaking at Hayle Mill is about an amazing group of people, not the tasks alone. The book stimulates the reader with the breadth and depth of wealth in the Hayle Mill Archives, which are still located at the Mill. It would be of great service if the invaluable text could be shared in an affordable commercial binding.