It’s the only place in the UK where visitors can still see silk weaving in person; has produced artisan cloth featured in a Hollywood blockbuster; and is now weaving special ribbons inspired by Jane Austen for a big birthday celebration.
Built in 1815, Whitchurch Silk Mill, an award-winning museum on the banks of the River Test in Hampshire, is the country’s oldest working silk mill still weaving in its original building.
Helping to keep the critically endangered craft alive, in the past silk produced here has featured in films and TV, including ribbon used to decorate the bonnet worn by Kate Winslet in the iconic film Titanic.
Now the mill has launched a creative collaboration with Jane Austen’s House, the Hampshire cottage where the author lived for the last eight years of her life and wrote all her novels, to weave special ribbons to celebrate her 250th birthday in 2025.
Just six miles from the author’s birthplace in the village of Steventon – and half an hour or so from the museum at Jane Austen’s House – the Silk Mill’s small team of highly skilled Weaver Tacklers still practice traditional skills using Victorian and early 20th century machinery to create beautiful artisan silk cloth.
For 2025’s major anniversary, work on the specially designed silk ribbons – inspired by the author’s home and objects from the museum collection – is now well underway and will continue until September 2024.
Throughout this year, visitors have the chance to see the silk ribbons in production at the Mill, while digital technology will make it possible to see intricate parts of the production process in more detail.
Jane Austen fans, and those fascinated by silk weaving, can also keep up to date with the progress with the project online via Jane Austen’s House and Whitchurch Silk Mill’s social media platforms and the Mill’s website.
A gem of industrial heritage, Whitchurch Silk Mill, still with a functioning waterwheel, has been making silk for over 200 years. Last year Silk Ribbon Weaving was listed as a critically endangered craft and added to the Red List by the Heritage Craft Association. There are only four silk ribbon weavers left in the UK, with Whitchurch Silk Mill employing one of them.
Jane Austen’s House, in nearby Chawton, is celebrating 75 years as a museum this year and gearing up to mark the 250th anniversary of Jane’s birth in 2025. Celebrations start in late 2024 and will run throughout 2025, culminating on the anniversary of her birth on 16 December (www.janeaustens.house).
For more about Whitchurch Silk Mill and the ribbon project see www.whitchurchsilkmill.org.uk/jane-austens-house-collaboration/
All tourist information for Hampshire can be found at www.visit-hampshire.co.uk
Photo, above: Whitchurch Silk Mill
Photo, below: Jane Austen’s House – credit Luke Shears
