Coldharbour Mill Working Wool Museum

The mill was one of a number owned by Fox Brothers, and is designated by English Heritage as a Grade II* listed building.

The water provided by the nearby River Culm was a prime factor in Thomas Fox's decision to purchase the existing grist mill.

In 1797, he wrote to his brother "I have purchased the premises at Uffculme for eleven hundred guineas, which I do not think dear as they include about fifteen acres of very fine meadow land.

"[2] The roads in the area at the time were very poor, and finished cloth had to be carried by pack horses to the nearby ports of Topsham and Exeter, or by carrier's cart to Bridgwater, Bristol and London (a twelve-day journey).

At its peak the company employed approximately 5,000 people and owned and operated nine mills and factories in Somerset, Devon, and Oxfordshire.

Located in Chipping Norton, the William Bliss site was one of the grandest mills in England, complete with reading room, chapel and workers cottages.

[2] After four years of study overseas, Edward's son Thomas Fox moved to Wellington, and became a partner of Were and Company in 1772, aged 25.

"[2] In 1787, Were and Company ran short of ready cash, and decided to print their own bank notes - effectively "promises to pay".

One of the original £5 notes is on display at Tone Dale House, the family home which Thomas Fox built, in 1801.

Exeter was the centre of the mediaeval woollen trade in England, with cloth being exported to the Continental markets of France, Holland and Germany.

Just by it is another walke wth in pillars wch is for the yarne, the whole town and Country is Employ'd for at Least 20 mile round in spinning, weaveing, dressing and scouring, fulling and Drying of the serges.

The weavers brings in their serges and must have their money wch they Employ to provide them yarne to goe to work againe.

[7] Some Exeter merchants, such as Barings, moved to London - the Weres changed production to long ells, a fine white serge, for the East India Company.

A letter from Thomas Fox to Green and Walford, factors, is to be found in the Fox Brothers Letter Book archive: Wellington, 15th seventh month 1788 We have for a great number of years been engaged in a very considerable manufactory of various export articles, the principal of which is mixt serges for Holland, but finding of late a slackness in demand owing to the troubles in that country, and the introduction of cottons and other articles, we see it necessary to turn part of our attention to some other articles of constant demand and Long Ells appear to us the most eligible.

4 c. 85), the trade in long ells to China declined, and Thomas Fox developed the production of flannel, which was sold in the home market and to America.

Following his Quaker beliefs, Thomas Fox refused to sell flannel to the East India Company when he heard it would be used in the manufacture of cartridges.

In 1881, as a result of losses in the First Boer War, a Parliamentary Commission sought to equip the army with khaki uniform.

(Worsted yarn is made from sheep with long hair fleeces and the wool has to be combed to ensure that all the fibres are parallel.)

[12] A legal dispute of 1834 [13] contains a detailed map of the water courses, which are in their existing positions, with a leat to the front and rear of the grist mill.

The main mill building was expanded at various times, with a two-story extension added to the north; a fireproof stone staircase to the east; a wheelhouse; a fourth floor to the main building; and an adjacent combing shed built over the tail race leat flowing from the waterwheel.

Thomas Fox's brother Edward was part owner of a Cornish mine, and was instrumental in installing an early example of a Boulton and Watt engine.

Edward told Thomas about this new technology, with the result that James Watt was invited to Wellington in 1782, just six months after his patent for the sun and planet gear that allowed reciprocating motion.

A letter in 1785 from Thomas states We do not much wonder at manufacturers being individually fearful of introducing new machines, since, however useful, the first promoters usually suffer from popular violence without being sufficiently protected by the laws.

The mill contains a number of other steam powered exhibits, including a working Ashworth fire pump, already at Coldharbour, but repaired in 1984 with components from Bliss Mill; a very rare example of a low pressure wagon boiler dating from the late 1700s; and a (non-operational) steam powered flue fan.

English Heritage classifies the late 19th century Gas Retort House as a very rare survival of gas-making facilities.

The next process is to draw the slivers out further, and to give the fibres a small twist to strengthen the resulting slubbing such that it can be wound onto a bobbin.

It has a number of educational programmes for schools including Victorian Drama; Materials & Fibres; and Britain at War.