EPW039597 ENGLAND (1932). The Croxley Paper Mills, Croxley Green, 1932

This famous old factory was a feature of the local landscape, in addition to being a major employer throughout 150 years, from 1830 until 1980.

Croxley Mill opened in 1830 on the site of a former works and it was subsequently enlarged in 1886, undertaking all the paper production previously carried out in the Watford area. Its facilities included a huge coal shed capable of storing 4,000 tons, which could be brought by barge on the Grand Junction Canal. An internal tramway system helped the circulation of rags, esparto grass and wood pulp used as raw materials in the manufacturing process.



A private railway siding was provided in 1899 and at the time this photo was taken, it was the London, Midland & Scottish Railway, Croxley Mills Branch, which brought coal from the Midlands and china clay from Cornwall. This freight traffic continued well into the postwar era, even after the branch railway from Rickmansworth Church Street to Common Moor had been lifted in 1968, and the branch to the mill was reprieved as far as Croxley Green Junction, mostly to carry oil fuel supplies. This continued as late as 1981 until the mill itself closed after years of mounting losses. The siding was lifted in 1986/87.



The site is now occupied by modern residences and the Croxley Business Park, but the Croxley name has continued to be used for a well-known brand of writing paper.

Ref. West of Watford, F.W.Goudie & Douglas Stuckey, Forge Books, 1990.