MSO10842 - Dulverton Laundry, Dulverton (Building)
Summary
Please read the Exmoor National Park Historic Environment Record caveat document.
Type and Period (8)
- FACTORY (AD 18th Century to Modern - 1775 AD? to 2050 AD)
- LAUNDRY (AD 20th Century to Modern - 1900 AD? to 2050 AD)
- WOOLLEN MILL (AD 18th Century to AD 19th Century - 1775 AD? to 1840 AD?)
- SILK MILL (AD 19th Century to AD 20th Century - 1840 AD to 1900 AD?)
- CREPE MILL (AD 18th Century to AD 19th Century - 1775 AD? to 1840 AD?)
- LACE FACTORY (AD 19th Century to AD 20th Century - 1840 AD to 1900 AD?)
- CARPENTERS WORKSHOP (AD 19th Century to AD 20th Century - 1840 AD? to 1900 AD?)
- CORN MILL (AD 18th Century to AD 19th Century - 1775 AD? to 1840 AD?)
Protected Status
Full Description
Dulverton Laundry was a crepe factory. It dates to the late 18th/ early 19th century, and was partly refenestrated in the mid to late 20th century. [1] It was commended by Pevsner as a good example of an early industrial building. [2] The mill was used for a multitude of functions - it was a woollen mill, then silk and crepe mill and a laundry. [3] The leat from the River Barle powered Warden & Co's 'Crape' Mill in the 1830s. The crepe mill gave work to as many as 70 people at times. The mill is a three storey building, supported by six vertical blocks of masonry running from ground to roof. After the crepe manufacture, the building was used to manufacture lace, and when that ended it was used as a joinery, turning out doors and window frames. It became a laundry in the early 1900s. Once modern machinery was added in 1935, the waterwheel was cut up and disposed of. [5] Some of the buildings used for the lace and crepe mill were erected in 1814. The millwheel was removed in the 1930s during modernisation. [6] Dulverton Laundry started as a grist mill, before it was converted to a woollen mill. It went on to produce crepe material, then, in around 1840, on to weaving silk and making lace. The use of the building then changed to a wood joiner's factory, then a laundry. [8] The building was visited in February 2012 as part of the rapid condition survey of Exmoor's Listed Buildings 2012-13. It received a BAR score of 4. [10] Henry Smith, owner of a large silk manufacturing family business with factories in London and Taunton, built a crepe factory in the 1820s. Crepe was a fashionable black clock, made by applying gum to silk during dyeing. The building reflected some of the latest principles of factory design in the 1820s and now houses the Dulverton Laundry. Its stone pier and panel construction provided a high level of natural light and an external wheelhouse, supplied by the town leat, enabled an efficient layout of machinery. An inventory of 1859 suggests that the ground floor housed 11 power looms, with up to 70 workers. By the 1870s silk was no longer made at Dulverton and the building was converted to a laundry in the 1890s. The building stopped using water power in 1935 but the leat still provides a source of water for the business. In more recent times, the collapse of a section of Dulverton Weir caused water levels in the leat to fall so that the Laundry was unable to extract water, necessitating its reconstruction in 1993. [11] The structure was subject to a historic building assessment in November 2018. [12] Built accross the watercourse this early 19th century mill of 3 storeys and 5 bays has a hipped slate roof of low pitch. The rubble stone piers are separated by panels with windows to their full width, and each storey has windows of 4 lights in the central panel, flanked by 6 light windows in the outer panels, all with wooden lintels. The mill is a single bay in width with a single vertical end panel with 4 light windows. The building which may have been used as a laundry is situated on the leat with a small pond on the north side and a tailrace fed directly into the former corn mill. [1,5,13-16] This record was enhanced as part of the National Record of the Historic Environment to Exmoor National Park Historic Environment Record data transfer project. [17]
Sources/Archives (17)
- <1> SMO5109 Index: Department of the Environment. List of Buildings of Special Architectural or Historic Interest . District of West Somerset, 36th List., 4 August 1986.
- <2> SMO5711 Monograph: Pevsner, N.. 1958. The Buildings of England: South and West Somerset. Penguin Books.
- <3> SMO5358 Monograph: Page, W. (editor). 1911. The Victoria History of the County of Somerset. Archibald Constable and Company, Limited (London). 2. P.422.
- <4> SMO5527 Monograph: Aston, M. and Leech, R.. 1977. Historic Towns in Somerset. Committee for Rescue Archaeology in Avon, Gloucestershire and Somerset. Survey Number 2. P.43.
- <5> SEM7521 Monograph: Binding, H. + Bonham-Carter, V.. 1986. Old Dulverton and Around: Dulverton - Bury - Brushford - Exebridge. The Exmoor Press. P.28, 38, 39, 41, Photo.
- <6> SEM7096 Article in monograph: Gathercole, C.. 2003. English Heritage Extensive Urban Survey: An Archaeological Assessment of Dulverton. The Somerset Urban Archaeological Survey. English Heritage. P.13, 15.
- <7> SEM6958 Unpublished document: Fisher, J.. c.2003. Dulverton Conservation Area Appraisal. p5, 8, 13-15, 17, Photo.
- <8> SEM7523 Monograph: Dulverton and District Civic Society. 2002. The Book of Dulverton, Brushford, Bury and Exebridge. Halsgrove. P.19, 27.
- <9> SEM7541 Monograph: Siraut, M.. 2009. Exmoor: The Making of an English Upland. Phillimore & Co. Ltd. 1st Edition. P.120, 122, 147, Photograph.
- <10> SEM8060 Report: Lawrence, G.. 2014. Exmoor National Park: Rapid condition survey of listed buildings 2012-13.
- <11> SEM8290 Report: Riley, H.. 2015. Dulverton Town Weir, Exmoor: Historical research, recording and assessment.
- <12> SEM8767 Report: Watts, M.. 2018. Dulverton Laundry, Dulverton, Somerset: Historic building assessment for Exmoor National Park Authority. Martin Watts.
- <13> SMO5709 Monograph: Atkinson, M.. 1997. Exmoor's Industrial Archaeology. Exmoor Books. p134.
- <14> SEM8344 Monograph: Warren, D.. 1996. Somerset's Industrial Heritage: A guide and gazetteer. Somerset Industrial Archaeological Society. 8. p57.
- <15> SEM341052 Collection: Williams, M. and Davies, J.O.. 2006-2014. Volume: South-West Mills.
- <16> SEM340866 Archive: RCHME. 1988-2001. South West Textile Mills Project.
- <17> SEM7987 Digital archive: Historic England. Various. National Record of the Historic Environment (NRHE) entry. 1305722, Updated 11 April 2022.
External Links (0)
Other Statuses/References
- 2012-3 Building At Risk Score (4): 1648/15/71
- Local List Status (Unassessed)
- National Monuments Record reference: SS 92 NW90
- National Park: Exmoor National Park
- NRHE HOB UID (Pastscape): 1305722
- Somerset SMR PRN: 31402
- South West Textile Mills Project number: 476
Location
Grid reference | Centred SS 9127 2776 (37m by 28m) Estimated from sources |
---|---|
Map sheet | SS92NW |
Civil Parish | DULVERTON, WEST SOMERSET, SOMERSET |
Finds (0)
Related Monuments/Buildings (1)
Related Events/Activities (2)
Record last edited
Apr 11 2022 5:06PM
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