Warping mill
Category
Machinery and industrial devices
Date
Unknown
Materials
Oak, iron, rope and brass.
Measurements
1803 x 1905 mm
Order this imageCollection
Snowshill Manor and Garden, Gloucestershire
NT 1332111.1
Summary
Warping mill having twelve radial arms at three levels, each numbered with Roman numerals. Plain wooden frame with peg joints, turned central pillar with metal bar vertically through centre as pivot and horizontal wheel at base. Weighted, ratcheted brake or distributor attached by a rope to central pivot. Driven by separate driving machine (1332111.2). 'Pleasance Webb silk warper Sudbury' is painted on the frame. The mill was used in conjunction with the loom (1332112) which is in Mizzen. Charles Paget Wade bought the mill in Suffolk with the loom. Attached to wall with a modern batten. In notebook no.4, page 88-89 (1340945.4) Charles Wade refers to: 'Spinning Room Top Gallant no.29 'An old Warping Mill of framed oak with heavy centre post, complete with ?eck block + wheel for driving with seat, weighted down with flints. Miss Pleasance Webb spent her life at this machine, starting as a child - her hands had become quite deformed by the work. She lived and worked at Sudbury, Suffolk, with Alice Howsden the silk weaver, whose loom is in the next room. The Warping Mill, loom and a double bed were all in an upper room with long the long weaver window found in many Sudbury houses. The mill in action made such a draught that a screen had to be put up between it and the loom. Pleasance told me she used to give small children a 'roundabout' ride on the mill.'. Includes sketch with dimensions.
Provenance
Bought in Suffolk by Charles Wade Given to the National Trust with Snowshill Manor in 1951 by Charles Paget Wade.
Marks and inscriptions
On frame: Pleasance Webb silk warper. Sudbury – painted by CPW
References
Wade, 1944: Charles Paget Wade, Contents of Snowshill Manor. Volume 4 First and Second Floor, 1944, pages 88-89