The Quarterly N0 124 October 2022 – News Vol 128 p4
The Ivybridge Heritage and Archive Group
Over the years Colin Harris has told us much about Stowford Mill at Ivybridge in Devon. Ivybridge has an active Heritage and Archive Group and website. I contacted Andrew Jewell their Website Administrator and he sent me the following information about their Group and the archive relating to paper that they hold:
I worked at Stowford mill from 1980 until its closure and joined the small Ivybridge Heritage Group which was formed as a consequence of the mill closing. All the archive resides in one of the members spare rooms as the heritage centre which we have been promised is taking much longer to materialise than anyone ever imagined. We now have a space earmarked by the developers of the mill site but it is at least another 2 years away.
Speaking with the custodian of the Stowford Mill archive today it is clear we don’t have a full inventory of items so this will need to be done. It is at least retained and in a safe location.
To give you some idea of what we hold in the archive here is a brief but far from comprehensive list
•Accounts journals from as early as 1910
•Paper Production Journals from 1916-1953
•Raw Material Purchases 1940s
•Clearing House Account Book (Inter mill transactions) 1960s
•Direct Accounts for Security Papers (All manufacturing mills) 1980 & 1990s
•Production Statistics for Stowford Mill 1955-1970
•Register of Plant & Machinery 1938-1955
•Security Paper sample folder 50+ A4 sample sheets
Their website is at: http://ivybridge-heritage.org/ contains much information about the town and the mills there.
The Wiggins Teape Archives, now held by in the Paper Foundation at Burneside in Cumbria, also has a considerable amount of material about Stowford Mill.
Hi
Not sure if you are refering to the correct mill here. Devon Valley is north of Exeter and is still running, Ivybridge Stowford Mill (Ivybridge) was north of Plymouth.
I have put some information about the link between Ivybridge Mill in the UK and Ivy Mill in Pennsyvania on that forum branch.
Ivybridge Heritage & Archives Group have the mill archives of that mill. There people I can contact within BAPH to see if there are similar archive for Devon Valley.
Forum contributor imag.ivy at gmail.com has pointed out
Ivybridge Heritage & Archives Group has undertaken detailed research of the history of the Mill and holds the full mill archives collection donated to Ivybridge Town Council in December 2013.
Their website is listed above.
In answer to a question about possible link between Ivybridge and Ivy Mill Pennsylvania –
Papermaking: The History and Technique of an Ancient Craft By Dard Hunter p275 has:
In the year 1729 Thomas Willcox set up the third paper mill in the colony of Pennsylvania. This establishment used as a standard watermark a dove and olive-branch design with the initials of the papermaker — first TMW for the founder, and in later years MW, the initials of Mark Willcox, the son, who was operating the mill in 1767.
In 1827 an ivy leaf was adopted as a watermark, the mill being known as Ivy Mills on account of the English ivy that covered the stone buildings. The original vine was brought from England by Thomas Willcox to Pennsylvania in 1725, from near the Old Ivy Bridge in Devonshire.
This book is available on Google Books along with other excellent books by Dard: https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=1sEp3rtK994C
