Clayton Woollen Mills has stood on the banks of the River Blackwater for over 150 years. When in operation, it employed large numbers of people from Navan town, either directly in the mill or indirectly for raw materials.

Now, an archival project to conserve, list, and make available the records of the Clayton Woollen Mills is underway. 

The Clayton brothers arrived in Navan in 1867 from a successful milling family in Yorkshire. By 1882, they had built 14 houses at Millbrook Terrace to accommodate a growing number of mill employees.

The firm further expanded to take over the old cotton mill at Stackallen. At one point, they employed over 250 staff and were one of the largest employers in the town.

The serge and khaki fabrics produced at the factory were used in military uniforms for WWII. The Irish Free State Army’s uniforms were also made with Clayton’s serge – records show that 25,000 yards of fabric were ordered in July 1940.

"Creative Ireland funding has allowed momentum and interest in the collection to build."

There were orders too for 20 bundles of grey worsted and 102 bundles of black worsted for the Artane Industrial School in Dublin.

The Clayton Archive holds minutes and agendas, wage books and correspondence, as well as objects such as signage and fabric samples. In 2022, Meath County Archive worked with conservators to repair a set of nine minute books and seven wage books from the company. These books are an important part of the collection, showing the weekly recordings of the company. Over many years of use, the bindings have weakened and pages loosened with damage from damp storage conditions. Conservation has ensured they are saved from further degradation.

Another strand of the project focuses on the listing of correspondence of the company.

Work on this series began in January 2023 with funding from the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media under the Creative Ireland Programme.

Meath County Archive focused on employing a temporary archivist to arrange and list the collection of 64 boxes. The post was filled in June 2023 and work has been ongoing to date, with 18 boxes of correspondence thus far listed, highlighting the reach of the Clayton company and offering some insights into their eventual decline.

The scope of this collection is really broad and this specific project will really enhance our understanding of international commerce working within County Meath. It is hoped that work on the collection will continue into 2024.

Creative Ireland funding has allowed momentum and interest in the collection to build and with that there have been some additional additions to the collection, including the purchasing of Clayton cloth from the US.

These projects have the potential to open up the collection and allow researchers the opportunity to engage with their heritage.