One of a few survivors

Image: © Neil Owen Taken: 14 Dec 2016

The industrial site at Bitton can trace its past quite some time. Originally part of Kingswood Forest and producing coal, the location beside the River Boyd made it prime estate for a mill. William Champion, a leading brass pioneer, set up here in about 1761. The mill produced brass and later paper, but there was a major fire in the nineteenth century that destroyed much of the works. After a rebuilding, the site returned to paper milling; records of 1895 reveal the firm employed over 400 workers, continuously making envelopes and government stationery. This carried on until 1963, when Canadian owners Intier took over; they specialised in wood fibre parts for the automotive sector. They supplied moulded parts to Ford, Rover, Saab, and Jaguar. However, the business folded in 2006. Today the site is being cleared for a housing development, with a select group of buildings spared due to their Grade II status. See Image] for a closer view of the vane.

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