Daz
Top Status Member
Joined : 06 Jan 2007
Posts : 387
Localisation : Macclesfield, Cheshire.
 |  Subject: Cheshire: Macclesfield Silk Museum & old Sunday School  Thu 5 Apr 2007 - 23:11 | |
| | Carole wrote: | My ARNOLD ancestors of the Macclesfield area worked in the Silk Industry. Would be glad to receive any information or relevant websites' links about this old traditional industry around Macclesfield.  |
Hi Cas.
A good place to get a brief glimpse is here.
http://www.macclesfield.silk.museum
If you check the museums section and click on paradise mill and the others or check the heritage centre.
I'll see if I can find any on the Arnold Mill.
Lots of love
Daz.
xxx :
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Safely guiding me home.
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Copyright. Daz.2008. |
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Carole
Admin
Joined : 06 Oct 2006
Posts : 5008
Localisation : Blackburn, Lancashire
| | Subject: Re: Cheshire: Macclesfield Silk Museum & old Sunday School Tue 23 Oct 2007 - 20:05 | |
| | April 07, Carole wrote: | Hiya Daz,
Thanks - I'm just taking a look at that site - ooh nice & bright! Will study it & see what else we can come up with between us. It will be good to try and get a feel of how it was for our ARNOLD ancestors working in the silk industry, won't it? Talk again soon,
Luv
Cousin Cas |
Hi Daz,
and anyone else who's called in here because of Macclesfield family or local history interests. Here's a copy of a brief article that I added to our
>> Smith Project's Cheshire Gateway Page >> , since Daz posted the link above.
Macclesfield Museums Silk Trail
Old Sunday School building, now the home of Macclesfield's Heritage Centre.
".... The earliest known reference to silk in Macclesfield is recorded in the inventory of silk button man Stephen Rowe, drawn up in 1617. During the 17th century the Macclesfield button making industry increased in importance....."
"... For over 200 years silk was the main industry in Macclesfield. When it prospered, people flocked in from the surrounding countryside to work in the newly-built mills. When it declined the town's fortunes declined with it. To the outside world Macclesfield meant silk, and the silk workers were proud of their skills and of the beautiful fabrics they produced...."
This heritage is preserved for all to see in the museums and the Silk Trail takes you past many of the mills, weavers' garrets and other landmarks in Macclesfield's industrial history.
The above information is from Macclesfield Museums' Local History pages.
Read more at their site........ www.macclesfield.silk.museum
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Nothing is too small to know, and nothing too big to attempt (William Van Horne) |
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Carole
Admin
Joined : 06 Oct 2006
Posts : 5008
Localisation : Blackburn, Lancashire
| | Subject: Re: Cheshire: Macclesfield Silk Museum & old Sunday School Sat 15 Dec 2007 - 14:29 | |
| The Francis Frith historical images site has a collection of old photos of Macclesfield.
I found this one - which is the Sunday School a century before it was converted into the Silk Museum...........
Macclesfield, the Sunday School 1897
Reproduced courtesy of The Francis Frith Collection
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Carole, Smith Project/Smith Chat Admin
Nothing is too small to know, and nothing too big to attempt (William Van Horne) |
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Gillian
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Joined : 11 Jun 2007
Posts : 876
Localisation : CHESHIRE, UK /Quesada, España
| | Subject: Re: Cheshire: Macclesfield Silk Museum & old Sunday School Sat 15 Dec 2007 - 15:44 | |
| Thanks Carole!
That is a lovely photo to have on the site. It is great to think that the building is still being used for educational purposes all these years later!
Gillian
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Carole
Admin
Joined : 06 Oct 2006
Posts : 5008
Localisation : Blackburn, Lancashire
| | Subject: Re: Cheshire: Macclesfield Silk Museum & old Sunday School Mon 17 Dec 2007 - 15:46 | |
| Hi Gillian,
Yes it is, and I've just been collecting together some other bits and bobs I'd saved on my computer from different information sites, on the same subject - so will add these here........
snippets from Manchester-UK's page -
>> Paradise Mill & the Macclesfield Silk Museum Heritage Centre >>
| Quote: | Paradise Mill, Park Lane, Macclesfield.
 this mill opened in 1862, (though silk weaving had been in Macclesfield since the 1750s) and originally housed both hand andpowered looms. As early as 1743, Charles Roe had built his first water-powered mill in Macclesfield, and within a decade, the town had become the nations main centre for silk production. The Mill remained the home to Macclesfield's last working handloom silk-weaving until its closure in 1981, when cheaper imported silks and high quality new synthetic materials made the production of silk in England an uneconomic prospect.
The Silk Museum / the old Sunday School
the first museum in the country to be devoted entirely to the manufacture of silk. Housed in the old four-storey Macclesfield Sunday School building of 1813, and has many interactive exhibits telling the story of silk production in the town. |
 ...this map above, & the following are snippets from
the "iKnow North-West" site's page >> The Macclesfield Canal Silk Industry >>
from the author's comments about the history of the Sunday School, now the Museum........
| Quote: | "........once a Sunday School for children who worked in the silk mill. Horrendous life I'd say - long hours in the silk mill all week then obligatory Sunday School be happy with your lot on Sunday. Some of them might have managed to stay awake for their lessons on the Sunday?
The Silk Museum itself is a fascinating exhibition exploring the social
history of people in Macclesfield who worked in the Silk Industry, particularly women. The central exhibit is a 'living history' film setting individual stories of struggle within the context of the history of the silk industry" |
Note: the first quote of snippets above from the Manchester site's information page - says that the Sunday School was built in 1813. However, there must have been an earlier building from about 1796 as I recently discovered this on another site...........
Macclesfield Sunday School Centennial Celebrations 1896.
 Macclesfield Sunday School Centenary booklet
This booklet was published to celebrate the centenary of the Macclesfield Sunday School - the building which now houses the Heritage Centre. In addition to describing the Centennial celebrations, the booklet includes an "Epitome of the History of the School" and a List of subscriptions towards the "Centenary Fund".
This booklet is available on CD for £4 + p&p from the >> Jigrah resources website >>
So I'm going to order this as one of my own Christmas presents.
Could very well be some interesting stuff in there!! Maybe mine and Daz's Arnold ancestors who worked in the Macclesfield Silk Industry in the 19th Century could be mentioned in it?? 
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Carole, Smith Project/Smith Chat Admin
Nothing is too small to know, and nothing too big to attempt (William Van Horne) |
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