There were many advantages to the chosen site for Quarry Bank Mill. The land was ideal for building a mill as there was lots of space for expansion, which was used in later years when the mill had many extensions. Samuel Greg rented this land off the Earl of Stamford in to build his mill. We know this from source 2: An extract from “the memoranda of Quarry Bank Mill from its commencement in 1784” which was written by John Hewitt. Within this extract, it clearly states that the land at Styal was leased to Samuel Greg and his first engineer, John Massey, on January 7th 1784. We also know from source 3: Transcript of the main points of the lease, that Samuel Greg paid the Earl of Stamford the sum of two pounds and eight shillings a years rent. The rent for the land was so low because land was normally bought for farming and the land at Styal was not ideal for this, but it was ideal for building a mill. Also, the Mill was located within a valley, so the air was very damp. This would prevent the threads of cotton from snapping. Over lookers would often tell the mill workers to keep the windows open so the cotton would stay moist and wouldn’t dry out.
The mill was located along the River Bollin. The River Bollin had good strength which was used to control the water wheel, powering the mill. Greg got away with any extra payments for the water wheel as the machinery for the mill was re-built for 1785, just after the termination of the patent on Richard Arkwright’s water wheel. This now meant that no licence was needed to use it. We know this from source 2: an extract from “The Memoranda of Quarry Bank Mill from its commencement in 1784”. As I was stood at the weir at Quarry Bank Mill, I saw that there was a 15ft drop from the River Bollin, which would have given greater force to power the water wheel.
Styal is located just outside located just outside just outside of Manchester, which was where the spun cotton would have been sold. Styal is also not far from Liverpool, where the raw cotton would have been imported to. Samuel Greg would have used the Bridgewater canal, which was just north of Quarry Bank Mill, to transport this raw cotton from Liverpool to Styal, which was to be spun in the mill.
Styal also had many of the building provisions needed nearby, for the building of Quarry Bank Mill. This was ideal as there were no nearby builders merchants which could have supplied the materials. When I visited Quarry Bank Mill, I saw that there was lots of sandstone, which would have been used for the as foundations for Quarry Bank Mill. I also saw that there were lots of trees which would have been used for floorboards. As I walked around the mill, I noticed that most of the rooms had wooden floorboards. There were also clay pits, which would have been used for bricks when building Quarry Bank Mill.
Greg could also pay the workers at Quarry Bank Mill lower wages than those of workers in Manchester Mills. This was because Manchester was at the centre of the trade, and Styal is in the countryside, a fair distance away from other mills in the city. We know this from source 7: minutes of evidence given by Greg’s son, William Rathbone Greg. Although the wages were lower, the living conditions were better. This brings me onto the disadvantages of the location of Quarry Bank Mill.
The nearest town to the mill was Wilmslow, which was where a lot of the workers came from, although there were still not enough workers. Greg overcame this problem by building the village of Styal, and renting the houses to workers. We know this from source 3: transcript of the main points of the lease, which states that for £50, the Earl of Stamford would give Samuel Greg houses in the hamlet of Styal which had belonged to the deceased, Mary Faulkner. Greg later expanded on this. Samuel Greg also built the apprentice house which was home to about 90 child apprentices, 60 girls and 3 0 boys. Greg preferred girls to boys as he believed that boys were mischievous. Many of the apprentices were paupers from the local parish. We know this from source 8: A letter from the Vicar of Biddulph to Greg in 1817, which contains James Sewell, the Vicar of Biddulph, offering Samuel Greg young paupers to work at the mill as apprentices. Source 9: transcript of the indenture, shows the indenture of Thomas Royley in 1785, the first pauper apprentice, which puts him forward for pauper apprenticeship. Most of the time, the children couldn’t read the indenture, so they didn’t know what they were signing for. Most of them wouldn’t have known how to write, so their hands would have been held as they were guided to sign with a cross. The children who were under 13 were paid from 1 to 3 shilings, which today would be worth about 5 to 15 pence.
Another disadvantage of the location was the lack of communication. It was very difficult to overcome the difficulties of low communications, but Greg just had to learn to live with this. The only ways of communications were by letter and word of mouth. The only major places which Greg would need to get in touch with if necessary were Liverpool and Manchester, which would be frequently visited for marketing circumstances, so messages could be passed on through word of mouth. Greg would also need to get in touch with places where he would find employees. These could have easily been contacted by letter.
This has brought me to the end of my explanation. I think the most important factor of the location was the fast flowing River Bollin and the channelled 15ft drop. These were a key factor to the on-running of the mill as it controlled the main power source, Arkwright’s water wheel. The fact that Styal is between Manchester, which was the centre of the cotton trade, and Liverpool, which was where the raw cotton would have been imported to, was also a good idea. The Bridgewater Canal would also have been handy for transportation of raw cotton from Liverpool to Styal. The space for expansion could have been found anywhere, but not at the low price at which Samuel Greg was renting the land for from the Earl of Stamford. Being able to pay workers lower wages would have saved a lot of money, but I think the least important factor was that there were building materials nearby, as Greg could have got the materials from a builders merchant anywhere in the country.
