Hat Works

Hat Works stands in Stockport, Greater Manchester, on the A6 at Wellington Road South. The museum occupies Wellington Mill, a fireproof cotton-spinning mill built in 1830–31. In the 1890s the building became a hat factory, and today it is a Grade II listed site between the town centre and the railway station. Smaller hatting displays had previously been shown in Stockport Museum and the old Battersby factory. The mill’s red-brick walls and semicircular stair tower still mark its industrial past. Hat making shaped Stockport’s economy for centuries. By the late 19th century the town, with nearby Denton, led the national trade. In 1932 more than 3,000 people worked in hatting, making it the third biggest employer after textiles and engineering. The First World War cut off overseas markets and cheaper wool products from elsewhere eroded demand. Miller Christy’s takeover of a local firm in 1826 is seen as a turning point in the industry’s growth. Inside, visitors find original hat-making machinery and galleries that explain silk, cotton and hatting history. The fireproof floors, cast-iron beams and Welsh-slate roof show how the mill was built to last. A tall chimney added in 1860 rises above the site. The building also houses displays on Stockport’s wider textile trade and the men who ran the Marsland printing and calico works next door.