A paper mill, known as Wheeler Mill, was erected on the south bank of the River Chwiler or Wheeler at Caerwys in 1786. Little is known about it until 1809, when the owner purchased a waterwheel from Wilkinson the ironmaster. The mill had three beating-engines at work in 1851 (as did the nearby Afonwen Paper Mill [nprn 412282]) and was extended in the 1870s (as confirmed by comparing the 1871 and 1899 editions of the Ordnance Survey 25in map); it is recorded as making paper until 1918. In the early 1970s there remained "a sizeable complex of buildings, including the stack and boilerhouse of a part used for textile manufacture." The buildings have since been demolished and a craft centre and modern works occupy the site.
Sources: Paper-Mills and Paper-Makers in Wales 1700-1900, Alun Eirug Davies, National Library of Wales Journal, Vol XV/1, Summer 1967; D M Rees, The Industrial Archaeology of Wales, 1975; p.245.
The mill produced high-quality paper for the printing of £5 and £10 banknotes and for Parliamentary notepaper. From the 1880s the mill became a leather works and from 1967 to the late 1980s a textile mill. Following renovation, the mill re-opened in 1991 as a craft and antiques centre and restaurant.
Source: Afonwen Craft & Antique Centre, 15 November 2014.
B.A.Malaws, RCAHMW, 08 December 2010 & 20 November 2014.