Staveley Mill Yard is a former

bobbin A bobbin or spool is a spindle or cylinder, with or without flanges, on which yarn, thread, wire, tape or film is wound. Bobbins are typically found in industrial textile machinery, as well as in sewing machines, fishing reels, tape measures ...

(spool) mill, which is now used for a variety of different local industries, shops and other commercial ventures. It is situated in the centre of the village of

Staveley, Cumbria Staveley () is a village in the South Lakeland district, in Cumbria, England. Historically part of Westmorland, it is situated northwest of Kendal where the River Kent is joined by its tributary the Gowan. It is also known as Staveley-in-West ...

, just off the main street.

History

Staveley Mill was in existence before 1829 and was first known as Low Mill. The first documented owner was Thomas Taylor who was born in Kendal. Taylor (along with two of his daughters) died in 1832 following an outbreak of cholera in the area. The mill was then leased to Benjamin Turton from

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other English counties, functions have ...

. In 1850 the mill was sold to Chadwick Bros. of Eagley Mills

Bolton Bolton (, locally ) is a large town in Greater Manchester in North West England, formerly a part of Lancashire. A former mill town, Bolton has been a production centre for textiles since Flemish weavers settled in the area in the 14th ce ...

. In 1897 Chadwick's Mill was bought by J. P. Coats of Paisley and was later sold to a Mr. Dean in 1900 who renamed it The Staveley Wood Turning Co. Ltd. Edwin Brockbank, the son of a

turner, became manager of the

mill Mill may refer to: Science and technology * * Mill (grinding) * Milling (machining) * Millwork * Textile manufacturing, Textile mill * Steel mill, a factory for the manufacture of steel * List of types of mill * Mill, the arithmetic unit of the A ...

, partner in 1938 and subsequently owner in 1946. Staveley Mill Yard has remained in the Brockbank family for three generations, from Edwin to his son Roger and on to his son David, the present owner.

Kentmere Reservoir Kentmere Reservoir is a water storage facility situated in the Kentmere valley in the county of Cumbria, England. It is located north-northeast of the town of Windermere. The reservoir is fed by the streams which form the headwaters of the River ...

, situated north of Staveley beyond

Kentmere Kentmere is a valley, village and civil parish in the Lake District National Park, a few miles from Kendal in the South Lakeland district of Cumbria, England. Historically in Westmorland, at the 2011 census Kentmere had a population of 159. ...

village, was built by the mill owners to regulate the flow of the river for the benefit of mills and other industries downstream. A large

water wheel A water wheel is a machine for converting the energy of flowing or falling water into useful forms of power, often in a watermill. A water wheel consists of a wheel (usually constructed from wood or metal), with a number of blades or buck ...

powered the line shafting (some of which can be seen upstairs in Wilf’s Café) and under the balcony can be seen where the water was drawn off above the

weir A weir or low head dam is a barrier across the width of a river that alters the flow characteristics of water and usually results in a change in the height of the river level. Weirs are also used to control the flow of water for outlets of l ...

and channelled along the race, through an archway into the building to power the wheel. In 1902 the water-wheel was replaced by a

turbine A turbine ( or ) (from the Greek , ''tyrbē'', or Latin ''turbo'', meaning vortex) is a rotary mechanical device that extracts energy from a fluid flow and converts it into useful work. The work produced by a turbine can be used for generating ...

. In the 20th century, The Staveley Wood Turning Co. Ltd. switched much of its production into tool handles and was able to prosper despite the introduction of plastic reels and bobbins in the 1950s. Much of the wood used by the wood mills was imported and by the 1990s most of the market was overseas and in 1993-94 the company placed machines overseas in

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, , is a country in Central Europe. Poland is divided into Voivodeships of Poland, sixteen voivodeships and is the fifth most populous member state of the European Union (EU), with over 38 mill ...

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

and

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...

. Restructured as the Staveley Timber Company the business was mainly in

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located enti ...

although some packing and finishing was still carried out in Staveley. Only ten people were then employed in Staveley, so the former

coppice Coppicing is a traditional method of woodland management which exploits the capacity of many species of trees to put out new shoots from their stump or roots if cut down. In a coppiced wood, which is called a copse, young tree stems are repea ...

drying sheds and timber stores were adapted into light industrial units and shops. When the business finally closed the workers adapted and helped to redevelop the old exhausted mill buildings into more business units. There are now over 30 businesses on the site creating over 200 jobs. In 2011, a new building development was completed, adding a modern 20,000 Square Foot building to the complex. This building is now used as both offices and industrial units. A footbridge across the river Kent was replaced in 2011 to improve access for the disabled. This was part of a Lake District National Park project called "Miles without Stiles". The new footbridge was officially opened on 3 June by National Park Chief Executive Richard Leafe and writer and broadcaster

Eric Robson Eric Bell Robson (born 31 December 1946) is a television broadcaster, author and documentary film maker who has lived for most of his life in Cumbria, where he has a sheep farm. For many years he was the main presenter of ''Brass Tacks''. Earl ...

Current uses

Staveley Mill Yard is currently used for a mixture industry, retail, galleries, creative studios and artisan

crafts A craft or trade is a pastime or an occupation that requires particular skills and knowledge of skilled work. In a historical sense, particularly the Middle Ages and earlier, the term is usually applied to people occupied in small scale prod ...

. Its industries and shops function to service both the local population and further afield and also as an attraction to visitors on their way into the Lake District. It is especially known for Wilf's Cafe and Wheelbase, the UK's largest bike shop. Recent additions also include Hawkshead Brewery (a local

real ale Real ale is the name coined by the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) for beer that is "brewed from traditional ingredients, matured by secondary fermentation in the container from which it is dispensed, and served without the use of extraneous car ...

microbrewery Craft beer is a beer that has been made by craft breweries. They produce smaller amounts of beer, typically less than large breweries, and are often independently owned. Such breweries are generally perceived and marketed as having an emphasis o ...

) and Staveley Natural Health Centre. It is also known as the site of for art and design studios and also

artisan An artisan (from french: artisan, it, artigiano) is a skilled craft worker who makes or creates material objects partly or entirely by hand. These objects may be functional or strictly decorative, for example furniture, decorative art, ...

crafts such as

furniture Furniture refers to movable objects intended to support various human activities such as seating (e.g., stools, chairs, and sofas), eating ( tables), storing items, eating and/or working with an item, and sleeping (e.g., beds and hammocks) ...

and bread. There is also an emphasis on using natural resources at Staveley Mill Yard. For this reason, the

which replaces the original

is now being used to generate 10–15% of the site's energy requirements.''Staveley Parish Magazine'', March 2010

References

External links

Staveley Mill Yard WebsiteStaveley Village - Visitor's WebsiteWilf's CafeWheelbase Bike ShopHawkshead BreweryStaveley Natural Health CentreStaveley & District History SocietyFreeride Snowboarding Shop
{{Coord, 54, 22, 38.24, N, 2, 48, 53.29, W, display=title Buildings and structures in Cumbria Weirs on the River Kent