Stott Park Bobbin Mill is a 19th-century bobbin mill and now a working museum located near Newby Bridge,

Cumbria Cumbria ( ) is a ceremonial county in North West England. It borders the Scottish council areas of Dumfries and Galloway and Scottish Borders to the north, Northumberland and County Durham to the east, North Yorkshire to the south-east, Lancash ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. Built in 1835, the mill was one of over 65 buildings in the

Lake District The Lake District, also known as ''the Lakes'' or ''Lakeland'', is a mountainous region and National parks of the United Kingdom, national park in Cumbria, North West England. It is famous for its landscape, including its lakes, coast, and mou ...

which provided wooden

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 ...

s to the weaving and spinning industry, primarily in

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated ''Lancs'') is a ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Cumbria to the north, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Greater Manchester and Merseyside to the south, and the Irish Sea to ...

and

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ) is an area of Northern England which was History of Yorkshire, historically a county. Despite no longer being used for administration, Yorkshire retains a strong regional identity. The county was named after its county town, the ...

. The building is now owned and run by

English Heritage English Heritage (officially the English Heritage Trust) is a charity that manages over 400 historic monuments, buildings and places. These include prehistoric sites, a battlefield, medieval castles, Roman forts, historic industrial sites, Lis ...

History

The earliest part of the mill was built in 1835 by John Harrison, a local landowner who had earlier inherited Low Stott Park Farm, including the land on which the mill was built. It is believed to be one of the few mills to have been specifically built for bobbin production, as many other mills were converted from earlier structures. At that time there was a great demand for wooden bobbins from the growing cotton and textile industry, and the Lake District provided a perfect place for bobbin-making due to its abundant natural resources: water for power, and coppiced woodlands for the material to produce the bobbins. Having built the mill as a speculative venture, Harrison and his successors let it out to a string of

trustee Trustee (or the holding of a trusteeship) is a legal term which, in its broadest sense, refers to anyone in a position of trust and so can refer to any individual who holds property, authority, or a position of trust or responsibility for the ...

s. In the 1850s the mill was leased to members of the Coward family, who owned property at Skelwith Bridge near

Ambleside Ambleside is a town in the civil parish of Lakes and the Westmorland and Furness district of Cumbria, England. Within the boundaries of the historic county of Westmorland and located in the Lake District National Park, the town sits at the ...

and a bobbin mill at Crooklands near

Kendal Kendal, once Kirkby in Kendal or Kirkby Kendal, is a market town and civil parish in the unitary authority of Westmorland and Furness, England. It lies within the River Kent's dale, from which its name is derived, just outside the boundary of t ...

. The family expanded the mill, even when the bobbin industry was threatened by changes in technology and the

Cotton Famine The Lancashire Cotton Famine, also known as the Cotton Famine or the Cotton Panic (1861–1865), was a depression in the textile industry of North West England, brought about by overproduction in a time of contracting world markets. It coincided ...

of the 1860s and many other Lakeland mills were closing. The construction of the

Lakeside railway Lakeside or Lake Side may refer to: Places Australia * Lakeside College, Pakenham, Victoria * Lakeside Joondalup shopping centre Joondalup, Western Australia * Lakeside, near Reservoir, Victoria * Lakeside International Raceway, Pine Rivers, Quee ...

in 1869, with a station less than a mile away, no doubt made Stott Park a more viable location than others. The Cowards continued to lease the mill until the 1920s, when they bought it from the Harrison estate for £4,000. They continued to run the business until 1971 when the mill closed, the wood

turning Turning is a machining process in which a cutting tool, typically a non-rotary tool bit, describes a helix toolpath by moving more or less linearly while the workpiece rotates. Usually the term "turning" is reserved for the generation of ...

industry having declined hugely due to the increase in products made from plastic. As one of the few remaining bobbin mills in the Lake District, it was listed as a

Scheduled Ancient Monument In the United Kingdom, a scheduled monument is a nationally important archaeological site or historic building, given protection against unauthorised change. The various pieces of legislation that legally protect heritage assets from damage, visu ...

in 1973, and the site was bought by the Department of the Environment in 1974 to safeguard it against demolition or conversion. It passed to the custody of English Heritage in 1983 and was opened as a museum run in conjunction with the Lakes Arts Trust. Today the mill is run solely by English Heritage.

Power

In the early days, the mill was powered by a diameter

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

. A beck (stream) running from Roger Heights to the west fed a mill pond behind the mill itself. The wheel was later replaced by a

water turbine A water turbine is a rotary machine that converts kinetic energy and potential energy of water into mechanical work. Water turbines were developed in the 19th century and were widely used for industrial power prior to electrical grids. Now, t ...

and additional reservoirs were created to provide water, most notably High Dam which is now a popular beauty-spot owned by the

Lake District National Park The Lake District, also known as ''the Lakes'' or ''Lakeland'', is a mountainous region and National parks of the United Kingdom, national park in Cumbria, North West England. It is famous for its landscape, including its lakes, coast, and mou ...

. In the 1880s a small stationary steam engine built by Bradley's of

Brighouse Brighouse (, locally also ) is a town within the metropolitan borough of Calderdale, in West Yorkshire, England. Historic counties of England, Historically within the West Riding of Yorkshire, it is situated on the River Calder, West Y ...

was installed to provide power when the water levels dropped in summer. The engine was run using the waste products from the bobbin-making process and remained in use until electricity was installed in 1941. The mill machinery is still powered by the 1940s electric motor and the steam engine is run for visitors on certain weekends throughout the year.

Awards

In 2014 Stott Park Bobbin Mill was awarded the title of best small visitor attraction at the Cumbria Tourism Awards and went on to win Silver at the national Visit England Awards for Excellence in 2015.

Toponymy

The name Stott Park derives from the

Cumbrian dialect Cumbrian dialect or Cumberland dialect is a local dialect of Northern England in decline, spoken in Cumberland, Westmorland and Lancashire North of the Sands. Some parts of Cumbria have a more North-East English sound to them. Whilst clear ...

word ''stott'' meaning a

bullock Bullock may refer to: Animals * Bullock (in British English), a castrated male cattle, bovine animal of any age * Bullock (in American English), a young bull (an uncastrated male bovine animal) * Bullock (in Australia, India and New Zealand), an o ...

or young ox. The whole area of High

Furness Furness ( ) is a peninsula and region of Cumbria, England. Together with the Cartmel Peninsula it forms North Lonsdale, Historic counties of England, historically an exclave of Lancashire. On 1 April 2023 it became part of the new unitary author ...

belonged to Furness Abbey during the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ...

and it is likely that at this time or in the

early modern period The early modern period is a Periodization, historical period that is defined either as part of or as immediately preceding the modern period, with divisions based primarily on the history of Europe and the broader concept of modernity. There i ...

, land was enclosed as a park to provide pasture for young beef or draught animals.

References

External links

English Heritage - Stott Park Bobbin MillInside Stott Park Bobbin Mill
on Google Arts & Culture
National Register of Archives catalogue entry
* {{Authority control English Heritage sites in Cumbria Museums in Cumbria Preserved stationary steam engines Textile museums in the United Kingdom Steam museums in England Watermills in Cumbria Woodturning Colton, Cumbria Industrial buildings completed in 1835 Protected areas established in 1974 Forest products companies Scheduled monuments in Cumbria