Mealbank is on the River Mint, 2.5 miles north-east of Kendal. Developed by the family firm of Braithwaite after 1834, the general site having been used for woollen, snuff and corn mills some time before 1767. More than 350 people employed here in the late 19th century in a fully integrated mill with machinery for preparation, spinning and weaving.
The industrial archaeology of the Lake Counties : M Davies-Shiel & J D Marshall, David & Charles, 1969
Here is a selection of photos from the Mike Davies-Shiel collection, all of which can be seen on the Cumbria Archive Service’s website. Most are his originals, some of them his copies of older items.
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- Carding machines, June 1965 (091-0379)
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- Spinning mule – 200 spindles, June 1965 (091-0381)
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- Dobcross loom, June 1965 (091-0383)
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- Turbine house (on left of mill), 1966 (091-0370)
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- Scouring the fleeces, June 1965 (091-0378)
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- New headrace completed Winter 1928 (091-0351)
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- Mealbank Mill, February 1966 (091-0369)
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- Houses. Owner’s house central, 1983 (091-0339)
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- New boiler c.1928 (091-0346)
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- Workers’ cottages, 1966 (091-0333)
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- The school – Braithwaite & Co 1868, 1966 (091-0334)
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- Mealbank Mills – woollen, corn, bobbin, snuff, 1966 (091-0336)
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- 1918 insurance valuation plan (80-089)
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- 1918 photo (80-090)
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- 1858 map (80-081)
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- 1868 plan (80-083)
