Power Development at the northern end of Quarry Bank Mill,Styal Cheshire

Abstract

This paper presents, in condensed form, the results of an archaeological survey of the northern end of Quarry Bank Mill, Styal, Wilmslow, Cheshire (SJ 834832). Development of the galleries at this popular museum, run by the Quarry Bank Mill Trust Ltd for the National Trust, to include the history of power generation and use, is informed by the survey which has confirmed the dramatic nature of the changes in energy source and transmission in this part of the complex during the period 1784-1906. The survey reviews the physical evidence for the series of water wheels, steam engines, boilers, stacks, coal chutes etc and is able to refine the received history, challenging occasional misunderstandings such as in the dating of the bell tower.