Heritage Press Releases

The historic Sunny Bank Mills Museum & Archive in Farsley, West Yorkshire has been awarded £243,449 from The National Lottery Heritage Fund to deliver Dyevolution, an ambitious three-year project that will uncover, preserve and share a remarkable and little-known chapter of Britain’s textile history.

At the heart of the project are six dye ledgers dating from 1888 to 1908 which are fragile, hand-bound books containing samples of dyed wool fibres. These rare volumes capture a pivotal moment in industrial history: the shift from natural dyes to the early use of synthetic colour, a transformation that reshaped textile manufacturing worldwide.

The Dyevolution project will bring these extraordinary objects into the spotlight, revealing the experimental processes and innovations that defined a turning point in the industry.

Rachel Moaby, Heritage Director at Sunny Bank Mills, said: “This funding represents a vital investment in the preservation of one of West Yorkshire’s most significant textile heritage collections. We are incredibly grateful to National Lottery players for making this possible.”

She continued: “The dye ledgers are exceptionally fragile, yet they offer an extraordinary snapshot of dyeing practices at a time of huge technological change. They document the transition from natural to synthetic dyes, a moment that transformed textile production but remains largely unexplored.”

“Through Dyevolution, we will conserve and digitise these volumes, ensuring they are safeguarded for future generations. Just as importantly, we will carry out new research and share these findings widely, deepening public understanding of our region’s industrial heritage.”

The project will be delivered with the support of the British Museum, bringing world-leading scientific expertise to the analysis of the ledgers.

Dr Diego Tamburini, Scientist for Polymers and Modern Organic Materials at the British Museum, said: “These ledgers are an invaluable and rare resource. Precisely dated and containing both natural and synthetic dye samples, they provide a unique window into how dyers experimented with new materials at the dawn of synthetic colour.”

“Using the British Museum’s state-of-the-art facilities, we can identify dyes at the molecular level, work that has the potential to significantly advance knowledge in heritage science. Dyevolution will help build vital reference data, supporting accurate identification of dyes in historic textiles and benefiting researchers far beyond this project.”

Images: Guzelian/ Lorne Campbell

About Sunny Bank Mills and its Museum & Archive

Sunny Bank Mills, established in 1829, is a unique heritage site located between Leeds and Bradford. Once a global producer of fine worsted suiting, worn everywhere from international markets to Savile Row, the site is now a thriving cultural and creative destination with a national profile.

Its Museum & Archive is nationally significant, holding over 180 years of textile production history. The collection includes more than 300 guard books, 60,000 lengths of fabric, 8,000 designs, 5,000 dye recipes, extensive ledgers, historic machinery, photographs and a specialist library together offering a rare and comprehensive insight into the lives, skills and industry that shaped the region.

Through Dyevolution, this rich heritage will not only be preserved but reinterpreted for new audiences, ensuring that the story of innovation, experimentation and craft at Sunny Bank Mills continues to inspire future generations.

For more information: https://www.sunnybankmills.co.uk/dyevolution/

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About The National Lottery Heritage Fund

Our vision is for heritage to be valued, cared for and sustained for everyone, now and in the future. That’s why as the largest funder for the UK’s heritage we are dedicated to supporting projects that connect people and communities to heritage, as set out in our strategic plan, Heritage 2033. Heritage can be anything from the past that people value and want to pass on to future generations. We believe in the power of heritage to ignite the imagination, offer joy and inspiration, and to build pride in place and connection to the past.

Over the next 10 years, we aim to invest £3.6billion raised for good causes by National Lottery players to make a decisive difference for people, places and communities.

heritagefund.org.uk

Follow @HeritageFundUK on Twitter/X, Facebook and Instagram and use #NationalLottery #HeritageFund

The historic Sunny Bank Mills Museum and Archive, one of the most significant and substantial woven textile archives in the UK, is launching an exciting programme of speaking events.

This programme, called Weaving Voices, follows a £10,000 grant from The National Lottery Heritage Fund.

The Museum and Archive is an integral part of the award-winning Sunny Bank Mills complex in Farsley, near Leeds. The Mills, which were originally built in 1829, have been in the Gaunt family for six generations and are currently owned and managed by cousins William and John.

The programme starts at 2.00pm this Saturday (October 14) with a talk by the renowned Yorkshire weaver Agnis Smallwood in the Bobbin Room adjacent to the Museum and Archive at Sunny Bank. Agnis will explain how she uses the Archive as inspiration for her creativity.

Agnis will talk about her practice, her collaborations with Sunny Bank Mills and her passion for sharing her weaving knowledge with others. The format will be a one-hour talk and walk around the Archive with Agnis as she intertwines and makes connections between her work and objects within the Archive. She will also deliver a weaving demonstration explaining how the loom works and the process of weaving, bringing the loom to life.

Heritage Director Rachel Moaby explained: “This will be the perfect start to Weaving Voices, our year-long programme which will feature a variety of exciting speakers. All experts in their fields, they will look at specific elements of textile process and the Archive collection, helping to explain objects and their connection to Sunny Bank in new and exciting ways.

“It is important to emphasise that these talks will not just highlight aspects of our precious Archive collection, but they will also illustrate how the collection is used both now and in the future.

The programme will also promote and improve the Museum and Archive’s accessibility for both blind and visually impaired and Deaf visitors.  This will include training for staff and volunteers to explain the Collection to blind and visually impaired visitors and provision of BSL interpretation for the talking programme. These will allow us to enhance our ability to share our heritage with wider audiences throughout the project and beyond.

“We are incredibly grateful to the National Lottery Heritage Fund, whose support has allowed us to create Weaving Voices. The Fund has already given us a transformational grant of £40,000, which has enabled us to be much more accessible to the public in a myriad of ways”.

The second Weaving Voices talk will be held on Saturday November 11 at 2.00pm and will be delivered by local historian Irene Froome, who will describe how a man from Farsley, Samuel Marsden, changed the face of the Yorkshire textile industry.

But who was Samuel Marsden? In her talk, entitled One Man and His Sheep, Irene will explain why Marsden was so important to the prosperity of West Yorkshire and outline her discoveries about Samuel’s life, character and career as well as looking at how he revolutionised the textile industry in both West Yorkshire and Australia.

William Gaunt commented: “Once again, we are delighted to be recognised by The National Lottery Heritage Fund. This grant has allowed the Museum and Archive to promote a series of fascinating talks as well as continuing our vital task of making the Archive more accessible and enjoyable for the community of West Yorkshire and beyond.”

The nationally important Sunny Bank Mills Museum and Archive consists of: Fabric records including over 300 guard books containing thousands of textile cuttings; 60,000 lengths of fabric; 8,000 fabric designs; 5,000 wool dyeing recipe cards; 100 leather bound ledgers and cash books; weaving looms; photographs and memorabilia and a library of mill-related books.

If you would like to learn more about the Weaving Voices programme and to find out about its future speakers, please visit https://www.sunnybankmills.co.uk/calendar/category/events/

About The National Lottery Heritage Fund

Using money raised by the National Lottery, we inspire, lead and resource the UK’s heritage to create positive and lasting change for people and communities, now and in the future. www.heritagefund.org.uk. Follow @HeritageFundUK on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram and use #NationalLotteryHeritageFund

The historic Sunny Bank Mills Archive, one of the most significant and substantial woven textile archives in the UK, is now available on-line.

The Archive, an integral part of the award-winning Sunny Bank Mills complex in Farsley, near Leeds, has been transformed by a £40,000 grant from The National Lottery Heritage Fund.

This grant has been used to work in partnership with the Post 16 department at West Leeds Specialist Inclusive Learning Centre (SILC) Powerhouse based in Farsley.

Heritage Director Rachel Moaby explained: “We have used this collaboration, called Weaving the Web, to help to create lasting connections and exciting new projects at the Archive. Specifically, we have been able to create a special Online Collection, which currently features 50 unique objects from our Archive, that can now be viewed from every angle, thanks to 360 degrees photography.

“Let me give you an example. One of our unique objects is an old rusty cauldron, which has definitely seen better days. It’s likely to disintegrate completely soon. But we have now preserved it for posterity, a wonderful reminder of an object which, once upon a time, was indispensable at the mill.

“Other Archive objects, now on-line, include typewriters, old telephones, suit jackets and an old-fashioned calculator. Overall, this is a most fantastic fusion of the old and the new, the past and the present, bringing our wonderful Archive to vibrant life in the 21st century,” added Rachel.

“Overall, this generous grant from The National Lottery Heritage Fund has proved to be absolutely transformational for us. One of the key lessons we learned from being locked down during the global pandemic was that we needed to be much more accessible – and this grant has enabled us to do exactly that. It’s been a game-changer.”

“This has proved tremendously exciting and productive. It has not only benefitted the students but has also increased the knowledge of our staff and volunteers at Sunny Bank Mills. Working in tandem with West Leeds SILC’s work-related learning programme, we have built much more inclusive web design and content, helping to promote inclusivity and accessibility at the Archive.

“We feel this work is so important, both for us and for West Leeds SILC, whose students have a range of learning needs including Asperger’s, Autism, Cerebral Palsy and Downs Syndrome. They have really benefited from this project – as have we,” said Rachel.

Please visit the on-line Archive website on www.sunnybankmills.co.uk/archive

Digital Archive Curator Alison McMaster commented: “Weaving The Web Project has been a year-long digital exploration. The obvious largescale outcome of the project has been the launch of the Online Collection, currently 50 objects, allowing visibility and accessibility to a far wider audience.

“The legacy of this will clearly be to provide firm foundations for continuing to improve and expand the offering. However, for me, the legacy of the project has come from the smaller details: engaging with young people in the Archive space, putting aside preconceptions and seeing what really interests them (and what doesn’t!) and learning from them.

“I’ve also loved seeing the juxtaposition of the oldest objects in the Mills with some of the newest technology and how different groups within the community have engaged with that – not always as we might have expected. I’ve always considered myself to be a life-long learner and my involvement with this project and the Archive have reignited that passion for learning.”

The Mills, which were originally built in 1829, have been in the Gaunt family for six generations and are currently owned and managed by cousins John and William.

The Gaunts set up Sunny Bank Mills Ltd, a not-for-profit company in 2017 to safeguard the historic textile Archive at Sunny Bank Mills and the Archive has gone from strength to strength since then.

William Gaunt commented: “The National Lottery Heritage Fund grant has proved transformational for the Sunny Bank Mills Archive. The grant has allowed the Archive to invest in equipment and skills to make it accessible online to not just the community from which it was borne, but to all corners of the wider community that want to see it.”

The nationally important Sunny Bank Mills Archive consists of: fabric records including over 300 guard books containing thousands of textile cuttings; 60,000 lengths of fabric; 8,000 fabric designs; 5,000 wool dyeing recipe cards; 100 leather bound ledgers and cash books; weaving looms; photographs and memorabilia and a library of mill-related books.

On the closure of a mill, the textile records are generally thrown in the skip. Therefore, sadly, 99% of West Yorkshire’s textile archives have been lost. The Gaunt family, however, were adamant that Sunny Bank Mills’ heritage should be preserved for future generations, so when the mill closed in 2008, all the mill records were carefully set aside.

William Gaunt explained: “It is important to John and I that the Archive has a secure future beyond our lifetimes for generations to come, so The National Lottery Heritage grant has meant a great deal to us. The management, restoration, conservation, preservation, use and promotion of the Archive here is absolutely crucial.

“Thanks to The National Lottery players, this important and exciting project has helped to create lasting connections with all our community and their heritage.”
About The National Lottery Heritage Fund

Using money raised by the National Lottery, we inspire, lead and resource the UK’s heritage to create positive and lasting change for people and communities, now and in the future. www.heritagefund.org.uk. Follow @HeritageFundUK on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram and use #NationalLotteryHeritageFund