Explore the home of the child workers of Quarry Bank Mill
The Apprentice House was built to house the child workers at Quarry Bank in Styal. They were given food and board in exchange for their labour. As many as 90 children lived packed in together inside the Apprentice House, sleeping two to a bed.
At the start of the Industrial Revolution, entrepreneurs such as Samuel Greg were looking for cheap labour to power their mills. The apprentice system offered the perfect solution. Children as young as eight years old were brought from workhouses or from their family homes to the Apprentice House.
On arrival, the children were asked to sign an indenture to confirm their employment with Quarry Bank. Some of the children had never learned to write, and so instead of signing their name they simply signed an ‘x’ on the dotted line.
On our visit to Quarry Bank this summer we were asked at the welcome desk if we would like a tour of the Apprentice house. This is something we have never done before so wasn't quite sure what it was like but as they said that children normally really enjoy it, i decided to book our spot onto the next tour. Tours run between 11am and 3.15pm every 15mins.
The tour is all included in your entry to Quarry Bank so if you are a National Trust member its all free.
Top Info
🎟 Included in your entry ticket
🕑 But you need to pre book your free slot when arrive
⏰ 11am - 3.15pm every 15 mins.
🪵 Meet at the wooden shelter by the Apprentice House
⏰ Lasts about an hour
👨👩👧👦 Suitable for all the family
🪑 Chairs are in each room if you need to sit
🔍 Learn about the Child Workers lives while working in the Mill
🌍 Quarry Bank Mill Quarry Bank Road, Styal, Wilmslow SK9 4LA
This is such a inciteful and interesting tour and I'm so glad me and my daughter did it. The children were given food, shelter, clothing, and a potential career in the mill in exchange for their labour.
The conditions the children lived in seem so shocking but we actually learned that Samuel Greg the Mill Owner actually looked after his workforce a lot better than other workhouses around the country. And working at the mill was usually better than family living in abject poverty.
You learn all sorts about the children lives. Where they slept, what they ate, what care they received, and hear the stories of Margaret Magin and Thomas Priestly
They laboured for long hours in the Mill, before returning to chores including gardening and sewing. Even on a Sunday which was their one free day they were made to do a long walk to Church and back so when they were finally home most of the day was gone.
The children's day started at 6am until about 7pm. With a ten minute break for breakfast at 8.30am when they were served porridge so thick they could eat it out of their hands.
Inside the Apprentice House
The Kitchen
We stepped inside the Apprentice house and straight in to the kitchen. This old, little kitchen looked like it had been frozen in time. Old bowls and pans on the table with pretend food to look at.
We learned about what the children ate, which was quite shocking. It was mainly porridge with different things added to it. Although Samuel Greg fed his workforce very well, as hungry workers don't work, the food was basic and pretty much the same every day.
Tour Guide
Our tour guide told us interesting stories about crazy medicines and theories that were used to help the sick children. Some that worked and some that didn't.
In fact, the tour guide was telling us interesting and mesmerising stories and facts throughout the tour, this was really what made it so fabulous and compelling.
Next we went upstairs to the dorms
Boys Dorm
Samuel Greg has less boy workers than girls as they were harder to control and couldn't be morphed as easily. They were also more of a flight risk as we heard stories of some of the lads escaping and therefor punished with extra work in the Mill. However we also learned that some boys actually chose to work more shifts so they could actually earn some money for themselves.
Girls Dorm
Yet another reminder of just how good we have it these days. Back then, the girls slept 2 to a bed and there would’ve been far more beds than there are now. Almost double. In other mills they would have crammed even more girls into each bed!
We learned where the term "cack-handed" came from as we were told about the limited number of chamber pot in the room and how the girls were basically locked in for the night. Some of the facts were quite disgusting but even so were quite astonishing.
The Study
This is where the children spent their time if they weren't working in the mill or asleep. This space is where they learned to read and write in their “free time” which wasn’t actually all that free.
The girls only learned the basics of reading and writing so mainly learned sewing and cooking. This education did come in handy later on in life for some of them as one of the boys who worked extra hours in the mill, saving his pennies up to buy a slide rule (pre-eminent calculating tool) and later on actually became the manager of the mill!
Samuel Greg was considered a ground breaking employer at the time because of projects like this.
The entire tour took about an hour and was absolutely fascinating, to the point i keep telling people random facts i remember from our visit. Our guide knew so many details about life in the Apprentice House, and the displays gave a great incite to how the house looked back then.
Visit Aug 2024
To Read all about the rest of Quarry Bank click here Quarry Bank Mill - National Trust (daysoutandmealsout.com)
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