Macclesfield Silk Museums

If you have every wondered where this beautiful, lustrous thread comes from, then the Macclesfield Silk museums will be able to answer all your questions and all your children’s questions too.

With its long historic association with the Silk industry, Macclesfield has risen to the challenge by having four separate museums dedicated to the industry which dominated this town for hundreds of years. Although silk worms have not been bred commercially in Macclesfield, all other aspects of the silk production process were present in Macclesfield including the making of silk buttons for the gentry’s frock coats and dresses.

It’s a fascinating day out, and you will have an opportunity to have a go on the old weaving looms, with their jacquard mechanisms and see if you think you would be able to work all day at such a loom, flicking shuttles from side to side.

A knitting machine is also on show, have a turn with the domestic spinning wheels, lots of informative and castigatory work notices make interesting reading and the office equipment, will have your Gran saying “I remember when .....”. Still not quite sure what the resuscitation equipment box contained.

Next door, in Paradise Mill you can take a guided tour and see the jacquard looms at work and see if you can spot the pattern mistakes in the woven cloth. These looms had been in use right up to 1981 when retired.

Compared to the textiles mills of West Yorkshire, which I am more familiar with, the silk looms are much more delicate and you would have needed eagle eyes to see if a silk thread had broken somewhere, compared to a thicker woollen thread.

The main museum – Silk Industry museum on Park Lane has displays of
• the different silk moths whose pupae create the cocoons, which are unwound to obtain the silk thread,
• information of the dyeing process and different sources of dyes, natural and artificial,
• collections of fabrics and pattern books
• how the training of weavers and designers took place
• and the odd parachute or two, if you remember using parachute silks to make clothes
• in the Discovery Centre you try your hand at printing on cloth too

The Heritage Centre is housed in a magnificent old Sunday School built in 1814and tracks to the story of silk from its origins in China, industrial espionage by monks bringing the secret of sericulture back to Europe, along the silk route to Britain and to Macclesfield.

A new gallery exhibits lots of silk based costumes, textiles and accessories on display, you might even remember wearing some of the clothes if you are old enough. Once you have got as far as this museum it will be time for a cup of tea, luckily there is a café on hand.

Do visit the Macclesfield museums, there is lots to see on textiles, the dyeing process, fabric printing, the design process, manual mechanic process for the engineers amongst you and just seeing how people worked in the past is fascinating in itself.

The Museum website is very helpful http://www.macclesfield.silk.museum/ with information on each of the museum and has extensive archive material for those interested in researching more.

Many thanks to the Macclesfield museums for allowing the use of their facilities and materials.

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