Quarry Bank Mill

1782:  Here's where it all begins.  Samuel Greg's uncle dies, leaving him to take over the business.  He begins looking for property so he can expand the trade.  Greg has many ideas in his head, but before he can put them into motion he needs to find the right place.  He goes looking in the Manchester countryside.

1783:  Greg finds what he is looking for.  On the river Bollin, at Styal, he finds the perfect spot to build a headrace, which he will direct to fall onto a large water wheel, which will be the source of all the power that his mill will need.

1783:  The building of Quarry Bank mill begins.  Samuel Greg built it keeping the size of the machines and the safety of the workers in mind.  The rooms had to be big to house the apparatus  and the windows had to be large so that as much sunlight as  possible get in so the workers could see properly. 

1784:  Quarry Bank Mill opens.  It had cost £3,000 to build.

1796:  Samuel Greg recruits Peter Ewart as a partner.  He had been involved in the production of the early steam engines with Boulton and Watt.   

1800:  Samuel Greg installed a steam engine to provide enough power to run the spinning machines when power was low.

1816:  Quarry Bank Mill employed 252 and was producing 342, 57 pounds of cloth.

1817:  Samuel's eldest son Robert joins Samuel Greg & Company.

1826:  Quarry Bank Mill was employing 380 people (that's an increase of 128 people since 1816) and the output had reached 699, 223 pounds of cloth (just over double of what they were producing ten years before).  As well as taking share of the home market, Samuel Greg was also selling cloth in Italy, France, North America, Russia Germany and South America.

1830:  By 1822, cotton was selling so well that Samuel Greg built new sheds for packing and sorting.  He also built a special new warehouse for all the new raw cotton that was arriving.

1834:  Samuel Greg dies at the age of 76.  His son Robert inherits the Mill. 

1836:  Robert Greg adapted the Mill buildings to house looms for weaving.  The mill was now used for spinning and weaving.

1841:  Samuel Greg & Company is split between Greg's four sons, Robert, John, William and Samuel jnr.

1842:  A new 'scutching' building was built.  Here the cotton waste was sucked out of machinery through flues.  Iron was used for the equipment and a new iron floor and balcony was made as a precaution against fire. 

1847:  The last child ends their term at Quarry Bank Mill.

1856:  A new water wheel is fitted.