NEW for Half Term, Spooky storyboat - a boat trip and story session from Frogmore Mill to our turning point near the Papermill pub. Stories and rhymes will have a spooky theme. A 30 minute ride. Please book in advance. £4 per person. Read more
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The Apsley Paper Trail charitable trust operates The Paper Trail Project at its two sites, Apsley Mills and Frogmore Mill. The project is run on a not-for-profit basis with the profits from all activities returned to the Trust in order to support the development and expansion of the project as a whole. This takes a lot of work and if you think you can help, please let us know. Read more
Running a book club, doing a sponsored activity or organising an appeal, could raise the funds that are needed to make roofs watertight, stop walls from crumbling, replace gutters and down-pipes, and the very many other day-to-day jobs that need doing, or even fund new initiatives. Help us with a social activity while having fun. Read more
Elena has been involved with Frogmore Mill since 2005, first as a volunteer and later as a Trustee. She provides curatorial support to the team and advises on collection care and exhibitions. Elena has worked in the heritage industry for over a decade, specialising in audience development, education, volunteer management and achieving Arts Council Accreditation. She is currently on the Curatorial Team at the London Fire Brigade Museum. Read more
Hilary became a Trustee in 2018. She is a Chartered Accountant having qualified with Price Waterhouse in Audit and later specialised in International Corporate Tax. She has spent the last 23 years as Regional Tax Director of two separate multi-national corporations and has recently retired Read more
Simon is a director of TVAC, a consultancy specialising in advising organisations on the strategic development and commercial planning of visitor attractions and destinations. Prior to founding TVAC, he was managing director of Grant Leisure, which owned and operated 3 commercially successful visitor attractions in the UK. Read more
Henry has represented Apsley Paper Trail as the Trust's property advisor since 2006 becoming a Trustee in 2016. He has held senior roles at The Crown Estate Commissioners and British Rail before setting up his own London based property consultancy advising corporate clients including charities and trusts on property development and portfolio management. Additionally Henry is Chairman of Mercy Ships UK, a member of the board of Mercy Ships Read more
Gladys is a volunteer and Trustee Minute Secretary for Apsley Paper Trail. She had a long career in education ending as Vice Principle and Head of Lower School in an 11-18 Comprehensive. Since retirement, Gladys was Trustee and Co-Manager of White House Arts Trust, now closed. Read more
John has volunteered at The Paper Trail since 2017. He has been involved since the inception of Apsley Paper Trail Charitable Trust becoming a director of the Charity between 2000 and 2010. Also during that period, he took on the role of General Manager of Frogmore Paper Mill. He was until that time managing director of a small group of companies allied to the printing and paper industry. Read more
We wish to invite everyone to share our passion for paper and will make arrangements for anyone with special requirements – just talk to us! Our Visitor Centre is accessible via a ramp and we have a lift to transfer people from the ground floor to pulper floor. We are by nature an old Victorian Mill and those visitors not able to use the final staircase can be taken to Fourdrinier No 2 via a different route. We just need to know in advance. Read more
Frogmore Paper Mill is a registered charity and in order to, move forward; we need funds. We aim to offer an exciting experience for all who visit, whatever their interest or knowledge of paper; the interested general public, industry specialists and education groups. If you are willing to donate for a specific or general cause, we will be happy to receive it. Read more
"Rags make paper, paper makes money, money makes banks, banks make loans, loans make beggars, beggars make rags. " Anon. English 19th C. Read more
A summary of the terms of use for this site and the conditions and licensing for reproduction Read more
Our modern café with riverside view is situated within what were once mill storage sheds, as can still be seen by the preserved wooden beams. Our café serves light refreshments; cold and hot drinks, cakes, biscuits and treats! Prices are from 20p for a lollipop to £2.50 and It is open Monday to Friday and every 1st Sunday in the month, during normal opening hours. We also have a display of second hand books for sale. Read more
Frogmore Paper Mill has been recycling for more than 100 years - recycling is not new! As a charity we can benefit from your waste paper and cardboard, which if not actually recycled can be sold on for extra funds. Read more
John Dickinson was the great 'entrepreneur' of the Paper Valley building a highly successful international buisness empire and acquiring over 20 patents during his lifetime. Read more
He was the eldest son of Sir John Evans but was not prepared to enter the business instead pursuing a remarkable career as an archaeologist. Arthur became Curator of The Ashmolean Museum following a period of imprisonment in the Balkans for insurrection. Read more
John Evans was the son of a clergyman schoolmaster who was all set for an academic career and about to enter Brasenose College when he was abruptly sent to work for his uncle John Dickinson, who promptly put him out to lodgings. He soon proved capable for everything he was asked to undertake. Having thoroughly learned the business he developed some of the earliest machines for making envelopes which had previously been hand folded. Read more
The second son of John Evans and a great-nephew of John Dickinson, Lewis had mathematical and scientific interests which ideally suited him to a career in the paper industry. He became a partner in 1881, then a General Manager in 1889 and later Chairman. During his period in the company the expansion and modernisation continued apace and included replacing the waterwheels with water turbines and introducing a railway link into the Croxley works. Read more
To satisfy the needs of business users the Challenge range of business products was developed. These included cash and receipt books, notebooks, record cards, filing systems and many more. Read more
The world-famous stationery rage was introduced in bout 1880 in Calcutta, India, when different colours of lion were used so that the local population who did not speak English could tell the difference between different grades of John Dickinson’s products. Read more
The company of Millington’s was a major manufacturer of envelopes based in Tottenham. At a Directors meeting at Basildon Park, near Reading, it was decided to make a new range of writing paper and envelopes with a high-quality watermarked paper to be sold at a low price. It was called Basildon Bond after their meeting place. In 1918 Dickinson’s bought out Millington’s after which Basildon Bond became a byword for high-class stationery. Read more
The British Paper Company Limited was formed in 1890 specifically to make paper from waste paper. Despite its grand name, the company has only ever operated from Frogmore Read more
The need for up-market writing sets, attractively boxed in faux leather cases, brought the Three Candlesticks range to market. The name was derived from a monetary coin token said to have been found in 1799 on the site of the Company’s former head office at 63/65 Old Bailey off Ludgate Hill in London. This token bore the sign of three candlesticks with the year 1649 and is thought to have been a tavern. Read more
The Fourdriniers commissioned Bryan Donkin to develop Robert’s model and the world’s very first continuous paper-making machine was installed at Frogmore Mill in 1803. A second, much improved and larger machine was also installed at Frogmore the following year followed by a further machine at Two Waters Mill, a few hundred yards upstream. Read more
In 1802 Henry and Sealy Fourdrinier appointed John Hall of Dartford to construct a working machine based on Robert's drawings and his working model. Using his brother-in-law Bryan Donkin the project made rapid progress and the first improved working machine was installed at Frogmore Mill in 1803. Donkin continued to improve the machine and a second version was installed at Two Waters Mill in 1805. Read more