The Silurian Mill was built on the site of Lower Mill, which had been a corn mill from the mid - 17th century until 1852.

 

In 1850 the site was owned by William Banks, originally from Shrewsbury. He moved to Knighton and Married Jane Hill on Thursday  5th July 1838 at St Edwards Church. William was a bachelor aged 37 and a draper by trade. Jane was a spinster aged 31. Jane was born in Knighton in 1807 and was the daughter of Benjamin and Hannah Hill.

 

In the 1841 census William and Jane are living in Church Street where he is described as a Draper.

 

In 1847 they had their only child, William Oakley Banks, who was baptised on Tuesday 25th May of that year.

 

1851 sees them living in Alms House Street (later to become Wylcwm Street) William now says he is a Wool Stapler

 

Woolstaplers were the men who bought fleeces from the local farmers, sorted them, and sold the wool on to others who would spin it into thread which could be woven.

 

Hereford Times - Saturday 16th April 1853

KNIGHTON. LAYING THE FIRST STONE OF THE KNIGHTON FLANNEL AND CLOTHING MANUFACTORY.—This important event took place on Saturday last. As we have already intimated we look forward to these works doing great good to the town, by the circulation of a large amount of money in wages and the introduction of additional traffic, which will undoubtedly be great advantages to all the inhabitants. Knighton has hitherto been, like our neighbouring towns entirely dependant upon agriculture ; and when farmers were suffering from dull markets or bad crops, of course they had less money to expend with tradesmen in their market town.

        To a stranger on entering this town nothing is more remarkable than the number of strong able-bodied boys idling upon the streets and most decidedly street schooling is not very improving, either to the pupils or the by-passers. Employment for such youths will be a great boon. The first stone of this useful building was laid jointly by Mrs. W. Banks and the Misses Archibald, after which the workmen upon the premises were each refreshed with a jug of strong beer and a plentiful supply of bread and cheese. The latter was given by the proprietor of the factory, W. Banks, Esq. Until very lately this town has kept its old dead-level for numberless years ; but now, new life and vigour are evident. Railway communication has been already a great source of improvement although it has not yet actually reached the town; a remark which will not apply (we trust) after a short time hence.

 

George Tutton of Kidderminster, Worcestershire. put forward quotations for the waterwheel at the Silurian Mills.

 

Hereford Times - Saturday 22nd April 1854

PUBLIC IMPROVEMENTS EFFECTED AND CONTEMPLATED

Knighton is very far behind at present, but within the space of the last. few years it has made wonderful progress, thanks to the untiring exertions of one of our most influential townsmen. A few years since we had no public building to hold our festive meetings or public dinners in, no reading-room, or coffee-room; but we can now boast of magnificent public rooms. Our town is now lighted up with gas, and there will very shortly be opened for work an immense large building, called the Knighton Woollen Factory, projected by our respected townsman William Banks, Esq.  Not only was the plan broached by him, but it has been by him accomplished and the building erected upon his own land. In part it is to be worked by water power and in part by steam. In the way of keeping on a very large number of hands, and the circulation of money which must necessarily ensue, this undertaking will confer immense advantage upon the town. The wool of this district was formally all carried away, but can now be worked upon the spot. Truly, as Brother Jonathan styles it, Knighton is going a-head.

 

Hereford Times - Saturday 9th September 1854

THE OPENING OF THE WOOLLEN MILL. An advertisement in another column announces that the very interesting and auspicious event of the opening of the woollen mill will be celebrated next week by public rejoicings. The opening of a new branch of industry for the poor, a new market for a staple article of the district, and a new source of prosperity to the town, is an occasion of such very great importance to all, that there is no doubt the rejoicings will be as full of life and heartiness as it is possible to make them. We shall of course report them at full.

 

Hereford Times - Saturday 23rd September 1854

OPENING OF THE SILURIAN MILLS, AND PRESENTATION OF PLATE TO W. BANKS, ESQ.

The inauguration of the Silurian Mills and the presentation of a handsome testimonial to the spirited proprietor, W. Banks, Esq., on Friday, were events which will long be remembered in Knighton and it neighbourhood. From that day, there is no doubt, will date a new era in the history of Radnorshire. Formerly this county was only celebrated for the barrenness of its hills, the thinness of its population, and the general poverty of its inhabitant; as we find conveyed in the lines-

 

Oh Radnorshire! Radnorshire, without Knight or Peer,

Without a. free holder of five hundred a year,

Except Tommy Moody of Abbey-cwm-hir

 

        The progress, however, which has characterized other parts of the kingdom, has not been altogether wanted in Radnorshire. The diversity of its soil and climate has not precluded improvement. The hills are being cultivated, its valleys drained ; and in place of the diminutive Welsh cattle which formerly cropped its then wretched pastures, may be seen as pure bred and as splendid cattle as any county in the kingdom can produce. Instead of the poor starving-looking sheep which occupied its mountains may be seen animals little inferior to the Shropshire-downs. The heavy cereal crops just housed, will, probably, in amount and quality, bear comparison with those of districts possessing much greater natural advantages. All this might perhaps have been anticipated from the progressive spirit of the age; yet who would have thought of Radnorshire becoming a manufacturing county?

         Thanks, however, to the enterprise of Mr. Banks, there is a prospect of even this being realised. The absence of coal, so essential for the production of steam, has been overcome by applying the waters of the wandering Teme as a motive power, driving the gigantic machinery of an extensive woollen manufactory. Hence-forward the farmers of Radnorshire, instead of sending their wool to Montgomeryshire or Yorkshire, by expensive land carriage, will find a ready and advantageous market in their own county. The Silurian Mills are situate, as we have said, on the banks of the Teme, at the foot of the wooded heights of Kinsley, about five minutes walk from the town. The engineering department was fitted up under the direction of Messrs. W. Fairburn and Sons, of Manchester and the machinery, which comprises all the recent improvements, was supplied from the works of John Mason, Esq., of Rochdale, Messrs. Manlove and Allcott, of Nottingham, and other celebrated machinists.

        The manufactures intended to be carried on will be that of Welsh flannels, tweeds, blankets, rugs, and a new description of woollen goods, termed " the Silurian cloth," a material of great durability, elasticity, warmth, and beauty, and which can be made in any quantities from a yard in length, and of an endless variety of patterns. In short, every description of manufacture for which the wools produced by the counties of Radnor, Brecon, Hereford, and Salop, are available will be carried on at these mills. The splendid machinery will, of course, obviate the necessity for a large amount of hand labour, but it is calculated that the mill, when in full work, will regularly employ upwards of 50 hands and as the operations are now much simplified, the native population and not persons from a distance will be principally employed. At present the machinery is worked by a water-wheel of 15 horses' power, but a boiler of 20 horses' power, to be used in the first instance for heating the rooms, has been put up, and in all probability the assistance of a powerful steam-engine will soon be brought into requisition.

        The inhabitants of Knigton and its neighbourhood, feeling deeply indebted to Mr. Banks for the public spirit which he displayed in the establishment of this woollen manufactory, lately entered into a subscription for the purpose of presenting him with a suitable testimonial. A large sum of money was soon raised, and a massive silver breakfast service, of exquisite design, was purchased for presentation on the day of opening. Arrangements were made for celebrating the event in a manner worthy of the occasion, and a general holiday was observed.

        On Friday last the presentation took place. On the picturesque grounds adjoining the Chandos Arms hotel, commanding a beautiful though not very extensive prospect of the Teme and the wooded heights surrounding, and a distant view of the mill through the overhanging foliage. There was pitched a spacious marquee, admirably decorated with evergreens, flowers, and flags, in which a cold collation, supplied by Mrs. Weyman, was tastefully laid out, while provision was made for the poorer classes outside in the shape of tea and cake. The weather was delightfully fine; and never was Knighton honoured with a more brilliant assemblage than on this interesting occasion. At one o'clock, p.m. the mill was set at work in the presence of the Right Hon. Sir T. F. Lewis, M.P., the Right Hon. the Countess of Oxford, and a large concourse of spectators, all of whom appeared to be much delighted with the multifarious machines which were set in motion. The party next proceeded to the marquee to partake of refreshments.

 

Hereford Times - Saturday 7th April 1855

THE WOOLLEN FACTORY.

Our readers will remember the report in this paper of the opening of the Silurian Woollen Manufactory in our ancient town by the spirited proprietor, William Banks, Esq., who was at the inauguration presented with an appropriate piece of plate as a mark of the esteem in which he is held by his fellow townsmen. We are glad to say that everything is progressing favourably in the mills; and that the proprietor is laying down a powerful steam engine, the waterpower not being sufficient in strength to work the machinery at all tunes.

 

Hereford Times - Saturday 15th September 1855

THE FLANNEL MANUFACTURE..

It is with pleasure we learn that our enterprising townsman, Wm. Banks, Esq., has this week forwarded a quantity of superior elastic flannel to the Crimea, for some officers to wear in the trenches. A little of it was used last winter, and found to act so admirably that they resolved to have a fresh supply for the coming winter. The fact that Knighton New Factory supplies goods to our soldiers at Sebastopol, is a pleasant novelty. The mill is now in full work, all the building being filled with the most modern machinery, and worked by both steam and the noble old river Teme. One man manages two machines, thus manufacturing some six and some eight pieces of flannel at once. On the old principle, without steam power, they could only make two pieces at once. Some weeks ago, when a portion of the machinery only was in work, they manufactured twelve hundred yards of flannel per week, and the quality of the article is far superior to anything we have seen previously.

 

Hereford Times - Saturday 31st January 1863

WOOL ROBBERY AT KNIGHTON. On the night of Monday, the 12th inst., a wool ware-house, belonging to Mr. Banks, the proprietor of the Silurian cloth manufactory, in this town, was broken into, and a robbery neatly effected. The warehouse is a short distance from the town, and adjoining the turnpike road from Knighton to Newtown. The man who first went to work and unlocked the warehouse on Tuesday morning did not notice anything out of its place, but the foreman, shortly after his arrival the same morning, missed about fifty fleeces of wool, which had been removed from the sorting-room during the night, but without leaving the slightest trace of any person having been in or about the premises, except that on looking round he found a pane of glass had been taken out of a window on the second floor, which could be reached by means of a ladder from the turnpike road, and thus this window, by admitting the hand through the broken pane, could have been unfastened (although it had been re-fastened by the thieves).

        There was no track of wheels in. the road, or anything to indicate the mode of removal or the direction taken by the thieves, and from the large bulk of the wool it was generally supposed to have been removed but a short distance for a convenient opportunity to dispose of it. Information of the robbery was at once given by Mr. Banks to the superintendent of the Shropshire police force, and on Friday last three men, named Isaac Broadhurst, John Jones, and Charles Smith, were apprehended by the Shrewsbury police, in that town, the two former having sold the whole of the wool to a wool stapler there, and the same having been conveyed to Shrewsbury by a horse and cart belonging to Smith, who is an earthenware dealer at Knighton.

        The prisoners were removed here on Saturday, and taken before R. Green Price, Esq., who remanded them to Thursday, to obtain the attendance of witnesses from Shrewsbury. The wool is supposed to have been carried about half a mile by a short cut across the meadows to a bye road leading from Panpunton to Clun, and there put on Smith's cart, and so conveyed to Shrewsbury by Broadhurst and Jones, as Smith was seen in Knighton the whole of the following day, but they were altogether when apprehended at Shrewsbury on Friday last, and the horse and cart still in their possession. Jones is a Ludlow man, and Broadhurst is an old offender here, but he has been missing since the middle of December last, when he slipped the Knighton police on their attempting to apprehend him at his own house, on another charge, and got away.

 

The Magistrates retired, and after a short time returned, when the chairman (Rev. John Price) said that he and his brother Magistrates thought that no case had been made out against Smith, who would therefore be discharged. As to Jones and Broadhurst, they had decided to commit them for trial. These prisoners were accordingly fully committed.

 

In 1861 Charles Smith can be found with his wife, Hannah, in Market Street. He is a Glass And Earthenware Dealer.

 

That same year, William and Jane are living in Wylcwm street, where William is now a Manufacturer. Their son William was away in the Mansion House School, Manner Terrace, Exeter, Devon (a Boarding School)

 

At some point William Banks was joined in the cloth trade by Thomas Peters the solicitor living in Ystrad House. In the Huddersfield Chronicle on Saturday 9th April 1870 it was stated that their partnership had been dissolved.

 

The census of 1871 shows William, Jane and son William living in Alms House Street. William Snr is now a Manufacturer employing 45 hands. Around this time the owners of the mill were known as William Banks & son.

 

Montgomeryshire Express - 23rd March 1875

PROPOSED LIMITED LIABILITY COMPANY FOR KNIGHTON WOOLLEN FACTORY.--A considerable amount of interest is at present being taken in the  proposed changes and improvements in the Silurian Mills. The factory is the property of W. Banks, Esq., and has been brought to a high degree of perfection by that gentleman. Some of the machinery is considered extraordinary. One machine, the circular loom, is quite a puzzle to these who have not been initiated into its mode of working, and but few have been found with skill sufficient to manufacture with it: The object of the "Circular" is to weave woollen guernseys entire. It is proposed to raise £30,000 in 3,000 shires to purchase the entire concern from Mr. Banks, and also to extend the works by a new wing, &c. Mr. Banks's estimated price is £16,000, It is believed that at the "Knighton Tweeds," " Elastic Cloths," and "Red Welsh Flannels" have obtained a lead in the markets it will be the means of considerably extending the trade. It should be remarked that steam and water power are used as motors, the factory, being situated on the bank of the Teme. The building of a new wing and accommodation for the work people, who will have to be employed in considerable numbers, will cause considerable alterations, causing an influx of inhabitants, and thereby give an impetus to the trade of the town. The directors of tie company are E. Evans Rhayader ; G. Thos. Edwards, Barrister, London; John Jordon, Esq., Shrewsbury; and W. I Jones,. Esq., Knighton. The acting solicitors are Messrs Peters, Knighton.  

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In 1878 William went through Bankruptcy

 

The London Gazette

The Bankruptcy Act, 1869.

In the County Court of Herefordshire, holden at Leominster. In the Matter of Proceedings for Liquidation by Arrangement or Composition with Creditors, instituted by William Banks, trading under the style or firm of William Banks and Son, of Knighton, in the county of Radnor, Woollen Manufacturer.

 

NOTICE is hereby given, that a First General Meeting of the creditors of the above named person has been summoned to be held at the offices of Messrs. Green and Peters, at Knighton aforesaid, on the 15th day of October, 1878, at twelve o'clock at noon precisely.—Dated this 28th day of September, 1878.

GREEN and PETERS, Knighton.

 

1881 William and Jane are now living in Castle Road. William is now an Agent for the Norwich Union Fire Office

 

Yorkshire Post - Friday 15th December 1882

The KNIGHTON SILURIAN CLOTH  and WELSH FLANNEL MILLS

To be sold by private treaty or let. The valuable Silurian Cloth and Flannel Mills, situated at Knighton, Radnorshire, together with the goodwill and  extensive trading connection, and also the valuable machinery therein. The works and machinery were designed by Sir William Fairbourne and the late Mr John Mason, and are of first-class construction.  The manufactory is worked by combined water and steam power at a great advantage, and is situate in a wool producing district, with the London and North Western Railway close to the works. The goods manufactured are extensively known and appreciated. For further particulars and to treat, apply to Mr Hugh Shaw, Auctioneer and Valuer, 2, Olegg Street, Oldham, where photographs of the premises &c can be viewed or sent.

 

William Banks died on the Thursday 11th March 1886, aged 85. He was buried in Knighton Old Cemetery on Monday 15th March 1886

 

The Will of William Banks late of Knighton in the County of Radnor who died 11th March 1886 at Knighton was proved at HEREFORD on 29th December by Jane Banks of Castle-Road Knighton, Widow the Relict one of the executors.

Effects £51

 

William's wife, Jane, died in December of 1887 aged 80, she too was buried in Knighton Cemetery on Wednesday 14th December 1887

 

In 1889 the Mill was up for sale again.

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Brecon County Times - 17th April 1896

KNIGHTON FLANNELS - Thos. F. Wills, having purchased the whole of  the Premises and Machinery at the "Silurian Mills," Knighton, for many years carried on by Wm. Banks and Son, is now producing the Flannels and Woollen Goods for which that firm was so famous. The machinery now comprises the latest improvements up to the present time, and every process can be executed at the Works from "fleece to finish." Trade only supplied. Shawls, Flannels, Tweeds, Stocking Yarns, etc.

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SILURIAN MILLS, KNIGHTON - Farmers can have their own wool Manufactured into Stocking Yarn, Blankets, etc., by sending it to Thomas F. Wills, as above. Parties are invited to call for prices and any other information. Wool also carded and spun into yarn for  customers.

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Northampton Chronicle and Echo - 3rd April 1911

WELSH TWEEDS AND HOMESPUNS. All Pure Wool, cannot be beaten for hard wear, for suits, costumes, and flannels. Any length cut at mill prices. Patterns free. Write G. Holroyd and Sons, Silurian Mills, Knighton, Radnorshire

 

1916 The Mill was offered for sale as a going concern

 

In the Yorkshire Post dated Saturday 6th August 1921 the Woollen Mill was up for sale yet again. The sale was to take place on Saturday 25th August 1921. This time due to the death of the owner.

 

Yorkshire Post - Saturday 7th January 1928

To Woollen Manufacturers and Others.

FOR SALE BY PRIVATE TREATY, or TO LET.

SILURIAN MILLS, KNIGHTON, RADNORSHIRE (Freehold). with the GAS ENGINE and SUCTION PLANT. HEATING  and LIGHTING PLANTS. and the WOOLLEN MANUFACTURING MACHINERY. consisting of TWO CONDENSER SETS. with MULES. NINE 90in DOBCROSS LOOMS. TWO FLANNEL LOOMS, and other Effects (all in capital working order). Apply EDDISON. TAYLOR, and BOOTH. Auctioneers and Valuers. Huddersfield.

 

William Oakley Banks, living in Brookside, died on Tuesday 24th October 1922 aged 70, he was buried with his parents on Friday 27th October

 

The following censuses give a little more information about William Oakley Banks:

 

1881 Woollen Manufacturer Unemployed - Living at home with his parents in Castle Road

 

1891 Journalist & Accountant - Lodging in Bridge Street

 

1901 Journalist - Boarding with Pryce Morris, a blacksmith, and his family in Victoria Road.

 

1911 Journalist - Visiting Martha Parton in Wylcwm Street. Martha Parton used to run the Central Wales Railway Hotel.

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