ABOVE Rachel Moaby, Heritage Director of Sunny Bank Mills Museum & Archive.
By Patricia Belyea
FARSLEY UK After 180 years of producing worsted wool, Sunny Bank Mills ceased operations in 2008. What began in 1829 as a cooperative wool scribbling and fulling mill grew into an immense compound of stone and brick buildings after the mills came under private ownership.
BELOW 1. and 2. Sunny Bank Mills in 2026, now a cultural and commercial destination in Leeds.
Today, the decommissioned mills stand as an impressive and artful redevelopment project housing more than 100 businesses and employing over 500 people.
Thankfully, the Mills have not lost their story.
Sunny Bank Mills Museum & Archive contains more than 60,000 lengths of cloth, 8,000 fabric designs, 5,000 dye cards, 300 guard books, and countless artIfacts that document generations of wool production.
BELOW 1. and 2. Entrance to Sunny Bank Mills Museum & Archive.
Heritage Director Rachel Moaby welcomed Victoria and me into the Museum on a day it was closed to the public! Rachel, a dedicated educator, patiently shared the history of Sunny Bank Mills — a story she has likely told thousands of times over the past decade, yet still recounts with enthusiasm and care.
BELOW Rachel and Victoria connect over stories about the textile mill.
The first private owner, Edwin Woodhouse, purchased the majority shares of the Mills in 1882 and spent the next three decades expanding operations.
The Woodhouse name, woven into the selvedges, branded the cloth as the finest merino wool. And the words “Made in England” underscored its quality. This superfine wool was destined for Savile Row.
BELOW The selvedge of a wool-cashmere blend suiting cloth.
This 1933 guard book contains weavers’ tickets used for setting up the loom. The tickets also include the names of the weavers, allowing the Museum to know exactly who produced the cloth.
BELOW 1. Guard book with woven samples. 2. Rachel continually considers the people behind the fabric. This sign reveals the remarkable number of skilled workers required to produce wool cloth.
Gift-style flower boxes line umpteen shelves. But instead of roses, each box contains collections of feelers wrapped in archival tissue paper. (Feelers are swatch books that allowed buyers to both see and touch the wool.)
The wools feel almost like silk — with a luscious drape and superfine weave.
BELOW 1. Shelves of flower boxes. 2. Rachel opens a box of feelers. 3. Close-up of feelers with the Woodhouse brand on the headers.
More shelves are laden with folded lengths of wool, each marked with handwritten labels.
BELOW Woodhouse wool samples.
After World War II, the company’s sales team successfully marketed plain superfine wool throughout the Middle East. Sales peaked during the 1960s and 70s. When the First Gulf War began in 1990, the party was over. The loss of this major market accelerated the decline of the Mills.
BELOW Photos of business meetings in the Middle East.
Harboring these stories, safeguarding the Archive, managing a team of 25 volunteers, and recently landing funding for a new research project keeps Rachel remarkably busy — all within a three-day workweek!
Once a nurse, then trained as an artist, and ultimately a graduate of a Master’s program in Museum Studies, Rachel seems uniquely suited to this role. She brings together compassion, curiosity, scholarship, and creativity in service of the Archive.
And perhaps that’s what makes Sunny Bank Mills feel so alive today. The machinery may be silent, but through Rachel’s stewardship, the people, processes, and pride woven into these historic wools continue to speak.
BELOW 1. A wooden Dooby Loom on display. 2. A public space of Sunny Bank Mills.
To visit the Sunny Bank Mills website +click here
