Nash Mill was a paper mill in

Hemel Hempstead Hemel Hempstead () is a town in the Dacorum district in Hertfordshire, England, northwest of London, which is part of the Greater London Urban Area. The population at the 2011 census was 97,500. Developed after the Second World War as a ne ...

Hertfordshire Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is one of the home counties in southern England. It borders Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire to the north, Essex to the east, Greater London to the south, and Buckinghamshire to the west. For govern ...

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

. The local residential area (

Nash Mills Nash Mills is a civil parish within Hemel Hempstead and Dacorum Borough Council on the northern side of the Grand Union Canal, formerly the River Gade, and in the southernmost corner of Hemel Hempstead. There is evidence of a mill in this locati ...

) takes its name from the mill.

Early records

There was originally a corn-mill recorded in the

Domesday Book Domesday Book () – the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book" – is a manuscript record of the "Great Survey" of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 by order of King William I, known as William the Conqueror. The manusc ...

. This belonged in the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...

to the

Abbey of St Albans St Albans Cathedral, officially the Cathedral and Abbey Church of St Alban but often referred to locally as "the Abbey", is a Church of England cathedral in St Albans, England. Much of its architecture dates from Norman times. It ceased to be ...

Paper mill

The mill was purchased in 1811 by

John Dickinson John Dickinson (November 13 Julian_calendar">/nowiki>Julian_calendar_November_2.html" ;"title="Julian_calendar.html" ;"title="/nowiki>Julian calendar">/nowiki>Julian calendar November 2">Julian_calendar.html" ;"title="/nowiki>Julian calendar" ...

. It had been converted to

papermaking Papermaking is the manufacture of paper and cardboard, which are used widely for printing, writing, and packaging, among many other purposes. Today almost all paper is made using industrial machinery, while handmade paper survives as a speciali ...

by A. Blackwell at the end of the eighteenth century and was a half mile from Dickinson's original Apsley Mill on the

Grand Junction Canal The Grand Junction Canal is a canal in England from Braunston in Northamptonshire to the River Thames at Brentford, with a number of branches. The mainline was built between 1793 and 1805, to improve the route from the Midlands to London, by-p ...

. The mill-house, called Nash House, became the family home for Dickinson and his new wife Ann (née Grover) whose father Harry Grover supported this business development through his Grover's Bank. In a very few years Nash Mill was renowned for its production of tough thin paper for Samuel Bagster's "Pocket Reference Bible". A major fire in 1813 was a setback, but, being covered by insurance, enabled redevelopment towards large scale production and by 1825 steam power had been installed, powered by coal delivered by canal. John Dickinson & Co. Ltd had their Engineering Department at Nash Mills until 1888 (managed by Leonard Stephenson), when it was transferred to Apsley Mill. The production of fine rag paper on electrically driven machines was a successful innovation at Nash. There was unrest amongst the workers in 1821 when pay was cut in response to declining trade. Local leaders of the Society of Papermakers were dismissed and replaced by recruits from

Abbots Langley Abbots Langley is a large village and civil parish in the English county of Hertfordshire. It is an old settlement and is mentioned (under the name of Langelai) in the Domesday Book. Economically the village is closely linked to Watford and was f ...

. The dismissed workers and their families, living in

tied cottage In the United Kingdom, a tied cottage is typically a dwelling owned by an employer that is rented to an employee: if the employee leaves their job they may have to vacate the property; in this way the employee is tied to their employer. While the ...

s, suffered distress and some "went on the parish". After some disruption and even sabotage, the situation calmed. In 1823 and in 1826, there were repeated mechanical problems. The mill maintained its own fire brigade with steam fire engine. By the end of the nineteenth century, Nash Mill, which was small and had a reputation for independence, experienced a drop in profitability. Continuous minor changes were implemented until, in 1926 it underwent improvements with expansion, remodelling and refurbishment.

Closure and redevelopment

In 1999, the paper mills owned by John Dickinson in the Apsley area were closed and the land was redeveloped. Nash Mill, however, was sold to the international

Sappi Sappi Limited, originally incorporated as ''South African Pulp and Paper Industries Limited'' in 1936, is a South African pulp and paper company with global operations. Products and operation South African Pulp and Paper Industries Limite ...

Group and continued to make paper until 2006. This mill was closed and subsequently sold; the warehouse business was relocated to

Dunstable Dunstable ( ) is a market town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in Bedfordshire, England, east of the Chiltern Hills, north of London. There are several steep chalk escarpments, most noticeable when approaching Dunstable from the ...

. Housing redevelopment plans were publicised in September 2009. By late 2010, the site had been largely cleared, retaining Nash House, Stephenson's Cottage and a war memorial.

References

External links

Nash Mills Sappi website

The Apsley paper trail Museum
* {{cite web , last = , first = , authorlink = , title = Nash Mills, Hertfordshire , work = , publisher = Archaeological Services & Consultancy Ltd , year = 2009 , url = http://www.archaeological-services.co.uk/nashmills.html , doi = , accessdate = 13 October 2010 Buildings and structures in Hemel Hempstead Defunct pulp and paper companies Pulp and paper companies of the United Kingdom Watermills mentioned in the Domesday Book