TRWBM:2004.115 – coloured photograph, looking north, of the rear of the Handle House, with Studley Mills in the left background and the channel of the River Biss, taken during the construction of the Shires Car Park, Bythesea Road, Trowbridge, Wiltshire
The Handle House at Studley Mills was probably built between 1843-1848 and is said to be the only remaining example of such a building in Wiltshire. The Handle House was built to dry locally grown teasels which were used to raise the nap of woollen cloth. Fuller’s teasel (Dipsacus sativus),stand nearly 1 metre (3 feet) tall, the spiny dry fruiting heads have been used since Roman times to raise the nap of woollen fabrics. The technique can improve durability, hide defects or obscure the weave of the cloth. Below is an image of the Teasel Gig, you can see the handles full of teasel heads set in to gig. These heads would become damp while in use so the handles needed to be removed and dried to ensure they were kept in peak condition.
The Handle House was perfectly designed to dry these handles naturally and efficiently. Heavily perforated wall panels allow free passage of air for teasel drying. You can see in the image that the building has lots of holes in the bricks. The Handle House has been renovated in recent years with an inner skin on the building – from the outside it appears unchanged, but the interior is now solid with a few of the holes turned into tiny windows.
Also in our photograph is Studley Mill. This smart looking mill was built in 1860 for J. & T. Clark, a firm started in 1804 by brothers John and Thomas Clark, pioneers of the Trowbridge cloth factory era. This mill differs from earlier ones as it is larger and square rather than rectangular. By 1860 much bigger looms were in use which needed more room and gas light replaced the need for lots of windows, meaning bigger buildings could be built. This firm stayed under family control for the majority of its existence from 1804 until 1967 when it was taken over by Winterbotham, Strachan and Playne from Stroud in Gloucestershire. It merged with Samuel Salter and Co. of Home Mills in 1970. The mill building was taken over by Bowyers after its closure and was used as offices along with the Innox Mill site. Below is a selection of fabrics within our collection that came from Studley Mill.
