Melin Tregwynt

Melin Tregwynt (Tregwynt Mill) is a woollen mill in the hamlet of Tregwynt in the parish of Granston, Pembrokeshire, Wales. A mill has stood on this site since 1819 taking fleeces from the sheep farms of the area, carding and spinning them into woollen yarn and then weaving the yarn into cloth and blankets. Today, the mill makes a line of upmarket blankets, cushions, clothing, and accessories. Tregwynt woollen mill (Melin Tregwynt) lies in an isolated valley on the coast of Pembrokeshire. It is about from the Pembrokeshire Coast Path. The hipped and whitewashed rubble stone building has the date of July 1819 on a roof truss. It was originally a corn mill, and was converted to a woollen mill later in the 19th century. The mill was part of the Tregwynt estate. On the 1841 Tithe Map, it was called Dyffryn Bach, owned by G. J. Harries and occupied by David Evans. The local farmers would sell their fleeces to the mill, which would wash, card, comb, and spin the wool into yarn and then weave it into blankets. The mill was powered by water from the local stream. In an unusual design, the water wheel is inside the building. The large iron overshot wheel probably dates to the later part of the 19th century. The water wheel drove hammers that beat the woven cloth to clean and soften it. Later the water wheel drove leather belts that powered the carding engines and looms. This equipment has been preserved in the old section of the mill. The present owner's grandfather bought the mill for £760 in May 1912 and operated it with his son. During World War II the mill devoted most of its capacity to making knitting wool, which was not rationed. In the 1950s the owners opened a shop at the mill and in St Davids and Fishguard, and started to develop Melin Tregwynt as a brand. The business thrived in the 1960s and 1970s and survived the recession in the 1980s that forced many other Welsh mills to close. The founder's grandson entered the business and started to develop foreign markets. As of 1997 the mill was weaving of cloth each month.