Quarry Bank Mill was honoured with a prestigious Heritage Award on Friday, 11th March, which was presented by the Institution of Mechanical Engineers (IMechE).
The Heritage Awards recognise British feats of engineering that have changed the way we live. Quarry Bank Mill is the 61st recipient of a Heritage Award and previous winners have included the Channel Tunnel and the Thames Barrier.
Founded by Samuel Greg in 1784, Quarry Bank is the oldest working cotton mill in the world and its waterwheel, built in 1851, remains the most powerful in Europe. By the 1830s, at the height of the Industrial Revolution, the Mill was among the most profitable businesses in Britain, churning out 700,000 yards of cloth each year.
Quarry Bank's success, however, was partly due to the use of child labour, which in the early years of the business made up a third of the workforce. The children, some as young as eight, were forced to work for long hours in difficult conditions for very little reward.
Today the Mill continues to produce 6,500 yards of cotton per year using Victorian machinery. Every day 200 schoolchildren visit the National Trust property to learn how children their age lived, and worked, two centuries ago.
Isobel Pollock, Chair of the IMechE's Heritage Committee, said:"Not only is the Quarry Bank Mill a beautiful working example of the engineering technology that turned Britain into an industrial superpower, it also acts as a window into the North-West's past.
"The work the Mill's staff and volunteers are doing in bringing the industrial revolution alive for today's schoolchildren cannot be praised highly enough."
Barry Cook, Chief Engineer at Quarry Bank, said: "This is a fantastic honour for both myself and the team, especially as almost all are volunteers. At Quarry Bank Mill we pride ourselves on making visits interesting and enjoyable for both adults and children, taking great pleasure in sharing the history of this fascinating Georgian mill which is still producing cotton today."
Photo: Isobel Pollock, IMechE Deputy President, and Barry Cook, Quarry Bank Chief Engineer, unveil the Heritage Award plaque at Quarry Bank Mill.
