Frogmore Paper Mill
Frogmore Paper Mill is a working paper mill situated in Apsley, Hertfordshire, near Hemel Hempstead. The mill is on an island in the River Gade, which forms part of the Grand Union Canal. It is the oldest mechanical paper mill in the world. History There are no surviving records documenting when a mill was first built on the current site, but it is recorded as being a corn mill in 1086 in the Domesday Book. In 1289, the mill was used for fulling; removing oil and other impurities from woolen cloth. It returned to milling grain, then became a fulling mill once more, then finally it become a paper mill by 1774. The world's first mechanised paper machine was installed at Frogmore Mill in 1803 funded by Sealy and Henry Fourdrinier and engineered by Bryan Donkin, based upon a design by Nicolas-Louis Robert. This machine allowed continuous automated production of paper rolls. Unfortunately the £60,000 costs of developing the paper machines meant that the Fourdrinier brothers were bankrupted by 1810. For most of the 19th century, the mill was owned by the Grand Junction Canal predecessor of the Grand Union Canal. In 1851, the chemical production of paper from wood