Quarry Bank Mill

Samuel Greg leased land at Quarrell Hole on Pownall Fee from Lord Stamford, who imposed a condition that "none of the surrounding trees should be pruned, felled or lopped"; maintaining the woodland character of the area. One reason for selecting this location was the "suitable head of water provided by the River Bollin and its proximity to the Bridgewater Canal and thus Liverpool". to spin cotton. When Greg retired in 1832, it was the largest such business in the United Kingdom. The water-powered Georgian mill still produces cotton calico. The Gregs were careful and pragmatic, paternalistic mill owners, and the mill underwent expansion and change throughout its history. When Greg's son,…

Quarry Bank is an example of an early, rural, cotton-spinning mill that was initially dependent on water power. The first mill was built by Samuel Greg and John Massey in 1784. Its design was functional and unadorned, growing out of the pragmatism of the men who felt no need to make a bold architectural statement. It was a four-storey mill measuring 8.5 m by 27.5 m, with an attached staircase, counting house and warehouse. It was designed to use water frames, which had just come out of patent, and the increased supply of cotton caused by the cessation of the American War of Independence. The water wheel was at the north end of the mill. The mill was extended in 1796 when it was doubled in…

The relationship between mill owners and employees at Quarry Bank, starting in 1833, was explored in the 2013–2014 television series The Mill. The producers used stories from the archives of the mill; the ten episodes were based on the stories but included some fictional characters. Some of the exteriors were filmed at the Quarry Bank Mill while others in the city centre of Chester and at Chester Crown Court. Interiors of the work in the mill were filmed in Manchester because "the real factory floor couldn’t be easily converted from its contemporary function as a museum". In 2020, some scenes for the ITV series Belgravia were filmed at the mill.