A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE 



embossed envelopes and wrappers until the 

 year i860, and also for the octagonal is. stamp 

 first issued in 1847 and the lod. stamp issued 

 in 1848. 



Among the paper-mills now working in Hert- 

 fordshire are the Croxley Mills and Nash 

 Mills, of John Dickinson & Co., Ltd. ; the 

 Hamper Mills, Watford, belonging to Mr. 

 Joseph Gutterage Smith ; and the Frogmore 

 Mills, of the British Paper Co., Ltd., at Apsley 

 End. 



Apsley Mill, converted from a corn-mill in 

 the 1 8th century, was bought by Mr. Dickinson 

 in 1809, and suppUed the paper for cannon 

 cartridges used in the Peninsula and at Water- 

 loo. In 1888 paper-making at Apsley was 

 discontinued. Cards were first made at Apsley 

 about 1 83 1 and envelopes some years later, but 

 the manufacture has since been enormously 

 extended, the old mill having been reconstructed 

 and enlarged to meet modern requirements.^ 

 In 191 1, 2,000 persons were employed at Apsley 

 Mill, and the envelope and card factories here 

 are now the largest in Great Britain. 



Croxley Mill, built by Mr. Dickinson, was 

 opened as a paper-mill in 1830. In 1886 it 

 was decided * that this mill should prepare all 

 the materials and make all the paper formerly 

 made at Two Waters, Frogmore, Apsley, Home 

 Park, Batchworth, and the Manchester Mill. 

 Very comprehensive schemes of enlargement 

 were thereby rendered necessary, and constant 



improvements in machinery and methods have 

 since kept the mill well up to date. 



In 181 1 the Nash Mills, Hemel Hempstead, 

 were bought by Mr. Dickinson from Messrs. 

 A. Blackwell and E. Jones, and only two years 

 afterwards suffered serious damage from fire. 

 Here in 1830 Mr. Dickinson set up his machine 

 for making fine plate and duplex papers. This 

 mill was practically rebuilt in 1879, and here 

 in 1888 one of the paper machines was first 

 driven by an electric motor. The mill is 

 specially adapted for producing composite and 

 duplex papers and can turn out some 100 tons 

 a week. 



Home Park Mill was built by Mr. Dickinson 

 in 1825, and later much enlarged. In 1878 

 the first colouring machine was put up, paper- 

 staining having been done here previously by 

 hand. Since 1888 no paper has been made 

 here, and in 1890 a large colouring mill was 

 built and turbines were installed in place of 

 the old water-wheels. Hand colourers are still 

 employed for special work, but the mill is fitted 

 with improved colouring machines for the pro- 

 duction of chromo, enamelled, coloured, and art 

 papers and cards.* 



Owing to the favourable position of the 

 Hertfordshire mills, water carriage is still 

 largely employed, although the main line of the 

 London and North Western railway passes 

 close to three of the mills and there is a siding 

 into Croxley Mills. 



PRINTING 



Modern research is responsible for the over- 

 throw of many time-honoured beliefs. Is it 

 destined to rob St. Albans of the honour of 

 being one of the first places in England in which 

 the art of printing was exercised ? There exist 

 at the present time copies of eight works which, 

 from their typographical resemblance or the 

 statement in their colophons, claim to have 

 been printed at St. Albans, in Hertfordshire, 

 between the years 1479 and i486. In none of 

 them is the name of the printer mentioned, and 

 the only clue to his identity that has ever been 

 discovered is a statement made by Wynkyn de 

 Worde, Wilham Caxton's successor, in the 

 colophon to the 1497 edition of the Chronicles of 

 England, that the work was printed in the 

 first place by ' one sometyme scolemayster of 

 St. Albons.' This statement would seem plain 

 enough, and the Grammar School at St. Albans, 

 which, according to the latest historian, Mr. 

 A. F. Leach, had been estabUshed since the 

 9th century,^ has always been taken as the home 



3 L. Evans, Tie Firm of John Dickinson y Co. Ltd. 



40, 



*■ Ibid. 25. 1 V.C.H. Herts, ii, 47. 



of this printing press, a belief which has been 

 further strengthened by the statement found in 

 the colophons to some of these books that they 

 were printed ' apud villa Sancti Albani.' 



It is true that no contemporary record exists 

 of any printing having been carried on in the 

 St. Albans Grammar School. Neither the 

 registers of Abbot Wallingford nor those of his 

 successor ' mention that the schoolmaster was 

 printing books ; but neither is there any con- 

 temporary mention of Caxton or his work at 

 Westminster, except such as appear in the rent 

 rolls of the abbey, for the rent of the Red Pale. 

 Since Wynkyn de Worde's day nothing has come 

 to light to reveal the name of the schoolmaster 

 printer at St. Albans, and Mr. Leach has re- 

 cently expressed the opinion that it will never 

 be discovered until one of the account rolls of 

 the almoner of the abbey for the years 1480-6 

 shall be found. 



And now, to deepen the mystery and thicken 

 the shadows that surround the St. Albans 



5 L. Evans, The Firm of John Dickinson W Co. Ltd. 4+- 

 =" Reg. Abbot. J oh. U'hethamstede (Rolls Ser.), ii, t+o- 

 291 ; B.M. Arnndel MSS. 34. 



258 



