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Christmas Closure: The museum will be closed from Sunday 15th December 2024 and re-open on Tuesday 7th January 2025.

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Industrial History

Congleton has a rich industrial history, and the remanence can still be seen today in the landscape. The first silk mill in Congleton was built by John Clayton in 1752, Ribbon weaving began in the 1750s and cotton spinning in 1784.

This is a Box of Fustian Cutting knife guides from the late 19th to early 20th Century. The maker is unknown, but the associated document that came with the guides indicates they were used by the Havannah Mill Company. These guides are made out of steel. They were fixed to the end of the end of a fustian cutters knife. They had a very sharp point which enabled the user to insert the knife into the row of loops they were intending to cut. On the upper edge there was a groove into which a very fine piece of sharp steel, the knife, was inserted.
These are a pair of 20th Century tacklers shears. Tacklers shears were used in the textile industry to end and mend newly woven or worked cloth. After being woven the cloth would be checked for any defects or stray threads. Any holes would be mended and any stray threads would be ended, cut back to be flush with the woven cloth.

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Research Room

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Bespoke Research

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Photograph Licensing

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1875 map of Conlgleton

A brief history of Congleton

From a Neolithic settlement to a medieval market town, a centre for the textile industry to a home for Dutch soldiers in WW2 - Congleton through the ages...

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