One lucky ‘Mercury’ reporter was invited to visit the site of the old paper mills at Wansford. There he discovered the fascinating history of the house and grounds, and paper making.
“Once Belonged | In Existence
To The ‘Mercury’ | Nearly 300 Years
Interesting Retrospective Glance
The days when the paper on which the ‘Mercury’ was printed was manufactured at Wansford, near Stamford, were recalled when, through the courtesy of Mr. G. Wyman Abbott, of Stibbington House, Wansford, a Mercury reporter was shown over the grounds of Stibbington House, the site of the old Paper Mills.
Stibbington House, which is even now occasionally referred to by old residents of Wansford as ‘The Paper Mills,’ was for over a century the property of the Newcomb family, a family which retained a controlling interest in the ‘Mercury’ for nearly 150 years. The paper was bought by one Richard Newcomb in 1785, but it was not until 1824 that he purchased the Paper Mills and used their product in Stamford.
Mr. Abbott was able to trace the ownership of the Mills as far back as 1650, when they were bought by William Page. Page married a lady by the name of Bridget, who had a daughter of the same name. He died in 1678, whereupon his widow re-married a man named Wright. The property then passed to a cousin, William Walcot, and then to William Walcot junior, of Oundle, a surgeon.
At this stage there is a gap in the records, the next known owner being the Richard Newcomb referred to abouve.
Sold Eleven Years Ago.
The Paper Mills remained in the Newcomb family until as recently as 1927, when Mrs. Todd-Newcomb sold the property to Mr. Abbott.
There is now little recognisable trace of the Mills, though, thanks to Mr. Abbott, I had little difficulty in re-constructing the scene of activity of a century or so ago.
There still remain standing a building which was the lower storey of the mill itself and a number of outbuildings which were probably used as drying rooms.
At the bottom of Mr. Abbott’s beautiul gardens runds an offshoot oft the River Nene and, standing on a small bridge over this stream, Mr. Abbott pointd out to me the site of the mill wheel which provided the power for the Mills.
A little higher up a verdant bank slopes down to the water’s edge, but is was not until Mr. Abbott acquired the property that the slope was made, as until 1927 there still remained the old wharf on to which the bales of rags from which the paper was made, were unloaded.
One could easily picture the barges mooring by the wharf, the bales being unloaded and carried off to the rag pits where they were pulled to pieces by women and taken to the mill itself.
Chimney Foundations Found
Some of these rag pits were filled in by Mr. Abbott when he bought the property, and the foundations of the tall chimney were dug up at the same time.
Mr. Abbott showed me an old photograph of the mill and chimney which, unfortunately, is too faded with age for reproduction. So changed is the site now, however, that it is scarcely possible to recognise the photograph.
The lower portion of the mill itself has been converted by Mr. Abbott into a garden house and a garage, and other buildings which were used for the manufacture of the paper are now utilised as garages etc.
The accompanying illustrations give some idea of the site as it was and as it is today.
The photograph shows what is now Mr. Abbott’s garden room, and if you look at the engraving you may recognise this garden room as the square building on the left of the mill. This engraving, incidentally, is reproduced from the letter head of one Thomas Nelson, paper maker, Wansford Mill, Northamptonshire, a sheet of which remains in Mr. Abbott’s possession.”
The Stamford Mercury, 13th, May, 1938.
In the foregraound can be seen the river on which the barges brought rags for paper making, and in the background is Mr. Abbott’d garden room, formerly part of the mill. 
This reproduction from an old letter heading, shows the mill as it was in bygone days. The garden-house in the photograph above is the square building on the left.