Here at Quarry Bank, industry and nature sit side by side, in a deep valley where the meandering river Bollin helped to power the industrial revolution. Samuel Greg’s cotton mill, built at the end of the eighteenth century, was one of the first factories in the world and part of a transformation that changed our world forever. In the beautiful Quarry Bank House, set next to the mill and surrounded by picturesque gardens, Greg and his family lived amongst the noisy clatter and deafening spinning of machinery at work. The mill workers and child apprentices, who toiled in these conditions, worked ten hour days to earn their meagre living.
On the blog you can discover all of Quarry Bank, from the day to day work that goes into looking after this beautiful yet thought-provoking place, to how the Gregs’ cotton mill was run in its industrial heyday. Drawing on our archive, we bring you stories and colourful characters from Quarry Bank’s past, and explore how the Greg family left a lasting and defining impression on the gardens and estate.
Did you know, we currently have a £9.4million project at Quarry Bank, which will completely transform the things that you can see and do here. Funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund, the National Trust, and your generous donations, we have big plans for the next few years.
In the Upper Garden the 1830s curvilinear glasshouse is being restored to its former glory, and summer 2017 will see us opening Quarry Bank House, where mill founder Samuel Greg lived with his wife Hannah Lightbody.
We will also restore a worker’s cottage in the local village of Styal, where visitors can explore the quaint cobbled streets and the hard life of a mill worker. In 2018 we will be revitalising your experience in the mill, and installing a lift so that all of our visitors can see every floor of the mill for the very first time.
All of this is happening over the next three years, and here on the blog we will be exploring all the changes and the stories that they unlock.
Quarry Bank Revealed 
Hi,
My name is Maureen
I worked in the office of Quarry Bank Mill in 1956/1957. The work carried out was screen printing by Hungarian refugees who were living at the Styal Cottage Homes as it was then.
Can you tell me if there are any records of this time when Cheshire helped out with the Refugee crisis . I cant seem to find any reference to this time as part of the history of the Mill and of the Village life.
kind regards Maureen Tonkin
Hi Maureen,
Thank you for getting in touch, it’s always wonderful to learn a new part of the Mill’s history. At the moment we are cataloguing the archive and so unfortunately closed to public enquiries. However, I have had your enquiry to our records, and as soon as the archive reopens we will get in touch with you if we find any information regarding the Refugee Crisis.
We would love to hear more of your own stories of the Mill and what it was like to work with the refugees, and would be really grateful if you could kindly send any information either by email to quarrybankmill@nationaltrust.org.uk, or by writing to us at Quarry Bank, Styal Road, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 4LA.
Best,
Laura