EAW026260 ENGLAND (1949). Chartham Paper Mill, Chartham, 1949

Possibly a descendant of a Domesday Book mill Having passed through a number of uses it was converted to a paper mill around 1730. Certainly, there was a paper mill here in 1738. London, General Evening Post, May 18th 1738.

A very good new-built Paper Mill, situate and being in the Parish of Chartham, where is plenty of Water, two Miles distant from the City of Canterbury, built by Peter Archer, lately deceas'd, containing two Engines, two Fats (vats), and all the other utensils and conveniences fitting and necessary for the making of Paper; together with a very good Dwelling-house adjoining to the said Mill....

Chartham turned to tracing paper production in the 1930s, as part of a strategic aim to replace German supplies in the event of war. Expanded in 1949, Now, with a production of 10,000 tons/yr of translucent paper out of a total output of 15,000 tons/yr, it is one of the world's largest - if not the largest - suppliers of transparent medium.