Return to introduction or Go to next location Walk MillAs the River Sow leaves Bishops Offley it flows into Walk Mill Pool.
The mill was seriously damaged by a great storm in January 1976.
A walk mill is another name for a fulling mill. Fulling was a vital process in the production of cloth, converting a relatively loosely-woven fabric into a close-knit one, by soaking it in fresh clean water and fuller’s earth, and then pounding it by foot (rather like treading grapes). Stale urine was often used for the process as it helped remove the wool grease called "lanolin" from the raw cloth. This process was known as "walking" or "waulking" the cloth and is probably the origin of the common surname " Walker" i.e. “Walking” the cloth in wooden tubs filled with stale urine.
Fulling mills used fulling stocks:- heavy wooden hammers driven by water wheels which achieved the same result with less labour and greater efficiency. Fulling mills were sometimes called "walk mills" to reflect the former method of carrying out the process. After fulling the cloth was dried and stretched on tenter-frames.. The tenting frames consisted of upright wooden posts with a fixed upper rail and a lower rail whose position was adjusted by pegs or wedges. Both rails were fitted every two or three inches with "tenter-hooks", L-shaped double-pointed nails. Return to introduction or Go to next location
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