Extract from A West Country Potpourri (page 63)
“(from Parliamentary papers 1839/40), which contain the assistant hand-loom weavers commissioner’s report……….Road has one woollen mill under steam power with an engine of 16 hp. It employs 34 adults and 16 young persons between the ages of 13 and 18. The factory adjoins Mayfield House.
By Peter Daniel:
But I am still puzzled because Batten-Pooll quotes the report as saying there was only one mill under steam power in Rode in 1839-40 but according to Ken Rogers the mill at Rockabella had a 14 hp steam engine in 1830 and was employing 50 people in 1838. Is it possible that Ken Rogers has got the mills muddled?
In the mid to late C20 the factory was called “the Button factory”, and the current (2024) owners have named the property “The Old Button Factory”:
