Building record MDR616 - 'Old Paper Mill' (now 'The Papermill'), Fair Vage Clough, Charlesworth

'Old Paper Mill' stands at SK 07979907. (1) At the foot of Fair Vage Clough is the shell of a long disused paper mill beside the stream which supplied its power. (2) The building is marked as 'Paper Mill' on Greenwood's map of 1825 and as 'Old Paper Mill' on the Ordnance Survey map of 1898. (3, 4) Old Paper Mill was constructed before 1847 and situated on Fair Vage Clough. In Kelly's Directory of Derbyshire for 1848 and 1849, the owner is listed as 'Thomas Turner, Paper Maker, Torside'. The mill was a small two-storey factory with a dwelling house in the same block. It first produced cotton cord before being converted by Turner into a paper mill. A mill pond or mill lodge was shown on earlier plans, which included a waterwheel. In the early 20th century part of the building was used as accommodation for an assistant reservoir keeper, with horses being temporarily stabled in the lower part of the paper mill, associated with the widening of the railway tracks that was taking place at that time, and provender in the upper part. In 2000 the ruined mill was sold to a private buyer and it has been converted into a dwelling. (5)