Countess Wear paper mill #topsham #devon

There's several routes that run along from Topsham towards Exeter. I usually cycle along the Exeter Canal tow-path that ambles into Exeter, towards the bustling quay, past a helpful pub and through a riverside park. It means I can bypass the busy Countess Wear roundabout and avoid the main route's traffic-laden hills.

Countess Wear is locally quite famous. The estate stopped the ships from passing on to Exeter thus making Topsham a busy port, at least until the canal was built to bypass the weir. The Countess Wear area also became the site of mills, originally used for grinding corn, later switching to making paper from rags.

It's this latter activity for which I've snapped a few pictures on my iPhone, from a 150-year-old model, built by an apprentice (or more than one?) working at the mills.

The papermills were operational between 1638 and 1885 and were used to make paper for banknotes, although it is believed that there were probably earlier medieval mills on the site. The Countess Wear Paper Mill is sited on an island formed from the division of a leat off the River Exe and surrounded by controlled water. The paper mill was once at the heart of Exeter’s industrial revolution.

Paper was first made in Exeter in 1638 and by the end of the 18th century, Exeter had 30 of the country’s 425 papermills, mostly concentrated in mills around Countess Wear.

Linen rags were imported from Holland, which were sorted and allowed to ferment. The rotten rags were laid in troughs of water and hammers powered by waterwheels turned the rags into pulp. A vatman would then form a sheet of paper from a mold. This was then raised and dried slowly allowing the fibres of the pulp to form a matted layer.

When paper began to be made from woodpulp, rather than rags, business declined. The mill converted to steam-power, but the large volumes of coal required just added to the financial problems.

At one time the mill complex covered more than two hectares, but now there are only a few buildings left. A fire destroyed the original mill, which was rebuilt in 1816.

The elaborate model, with its delightful vignettes, is at a scale of 6ft to 1 inch (1/72nd scale) and on display at Topsham Museum.