Nash Mill
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Nash Mill was a paper mill near
Hemel Hempstead Hemel Hempstead () is a town in the Dacorum district in Hertfordshire, England. It is located north-west of London; nearby towns and cities include Watford, St Albans and Berkhamsted. The population at the 2021 United Kingdom census, 2021 cens ...
,
Hertfordshire Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is a ceremonial county in the East of England and one of the home counties. It borders Bedfordshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the north-east, Essex to the east, Greater London to the ...
,
United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...
. The local residential area (
Nash Mills Nash Mills is a civil parishes in England, civil parish within Hemel Hempstead and Dacorum Borough Council on the northern side of the Grand Union Canal, formerly the River Gade, and in the southernmost corner of Hemel Hempstead. There is evide ...
) takes its name from the mill.


Early records

There was originally a corn-mill recorded in the
Domesday Book Domesday Book ( ; the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book") is a manuscript record of the Great Survey of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 at the behest of William the Conqueror. The manuscript was originally known by ...
.


Paper mill

The mill was converted to
papermaking Papermaking is the manufacture of paper and cardboard, which are used widely for printing, writing, and packaging, among many other purposes. Today almost all paper is Pulp and paper industry, made using industrial machinery, while handmade pape ...
by Anne Blackwell at the end of the eighteenth century. It was purchased by
John Dickinson John Dickinson (November 13, O.S. November 2">Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates.html" ;"title="/nowiki>Old Style and New Style dates">O.S. November 21732Various sources indicate a birth date of November 8, 12 or 13, but his most recent biographer ...
in 1811. It was a half mile south from Dickinson's original
Apsley Mill Apsley Mill was a paper mill at Apsley, near Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire, United Kingdom. Early records There was originally a corn-mill recorded in the Domesday Book. Paper mill The mill was converted to papermaking by George Stafford in 17 ...
at Apsley on the
Grand Junction Canal The Grand Junction Canal is a canal in England from Braunston in Northamptonshire to the River Thames at Brentford, with a number of branches. The mainline was built between 1793 and 1805, to improve the route from the English Midlands, Midlan ...
. The mill-house, called Nash House, became the family home for Dickinson and his new wife Ann (née Grover) whose father Harry Grover supported this business development through his Grover's Bank. In a very few years Nash Mill was renowned for its production of tough thin paper for Samuel Bagster's "Pocket Reference Bible". A major fire in 1813 was a setback, but, being covered by insurance, enabled redevelopment towards large scale production and by 1825 steam power had been installed, powered by coal delivered by canal. John Dickinson & Co. had their Engineering Department at Nash Mills until 1888 (managed by Leonard Stephenson), when it was transferred to Apsley Mill. The production of fine rag paper on electrically driven machines was a successful innovation at Nash. There was unrest amongst the workers in 1821 when pay was cut in response to declining trade. Local leaders of the
Original Society of Papermakers The Original Society of Papermakers was an early trade union in the United Kingdom. History The union is generally held to have been founded in 1800, although minutes of a meeting held in 1799 survive. Some accounts mention a preceding guild which ...
were dismissed and replaced by recruits from
Abbots Langley Abbots Langley () is a large village and civil parish in the English county of Hertfordshire. It is an old settlement and is mentioned (under the name of Langelai) in the Domesday Book. Economically the village is closely linked to Watford and w ...
. The dismissed workers and their families, living in
tied cottage In the United Kingdom, a tied cottage is typically a dwelling owned by an employer that is rented to an employee: if the employee leaves their job they may have to vacate the property; in this way the employee is tied to their employer. While the ...
s, suffered distress and some "went on the parish". After some disruption and even sabotage, the situation calmed. In 1823 and in 1826, there were repeated mechanical problems. The mill maintained its own fire brigade with a steam fire engine.


Closure and redevelopment

In 1990, Nash Mill was sold to the international
Sappi Sappi Limited, originally incorporated as ''South African Pulp and Paper Industries Limited'' in 1936, is a South African pulp and paper company with global operations. Products and operation South African Pulp and Paper Industries Limit ...
Group and continued to make paper until 2006. The mill was closed and subsequently sold; the warehouse business was relocated to
Dunstable Dunstable ( ) is a market town and civil parish in Bedfordshire, England, east of the Chiltern Hills, north of London. There are several steep chalk escarpments, most noticeable when approaching Dunstable from the north. Dunstable is the fou ...
. Housing redevelopment plans were publicised in September 2009. By late 2010, the site had been largely cleared, retaining Nash House, Stephenson's Cottage and a war memorial.


References

{{Reflist


External links


Nash Mills Sappi website
Buildings and structures in Hemel Hempstead Defunct pulp and paper companies Pulp and paper companies of the United Kingdom Watermills mentioned in the Domesday Book