Our History

Developed under an ancient Chinese dynasty around 2,000 years ago, papermaking is one of the oldest craft processes. The earliest papermaking machine was invented in 1798 and was introduced to England 4 years later by the Fourdrinier brothers.

Henry Cooke was one of the first to experiment with machine-made paper at the Richmond Mill in 1823. In 1833, Beetham Waterhouse Mill was converted from corn grinding to paper production.