History of Barley Mow Centre
Thursday, March 4, 2010 at 04:40AM During the last quarter of the 19th century the middle classes swelled in numbers, and had cash to spare for consumer products. To meet this new demand, manufacturers mechanised production, and so in turn were able to sell more goods at lower prices. The business run by Arthur Sanderson was one that benefited from the virtuous circle.
Arthur Sanderson had set up in business in 1860 to import French wallpapers – luxurious and expensive goods for the top end of the market. In 1879 he started to manufacture his own wallpapers and established a factory in Chiswick, now known as the Barley Mow Centre. His three eldest sons joined him to learn the trade. Arthur Sanderson died in 1882, before he could enjoy the fruits of his new enterprise. The next generation transformed the business.
In 1893 (the date appears on the façade of the present Workspace Group building) a substantial five-storey factory was constructed. By 1896 there were about 250 employees, and soon after 1900 the building was extended again.
Harold was the most creative of the Sanderson brothers. He took charge of the manufacturing side of the business at Chiswick and became the driving force behind the company’s aesthetic development. Harold was also keenly interested in technical innovation. In 1909 and 1911 he patented a new embossing machine that produced textured wallpapers that would not flatten when pasted to the wall; this proved to be one of the major advances in 20th-century wallpaper production.
By the first decade of the new century, Sanderson’s was bringing fresh colour and style to innumerable bourgeois homes, and was consolidating its position as the UK’s leading producer of wallpapers.
In October 1928 a huge fire destroyed most of the Chiswick works, hastening the decision to move away from the cramped Chiswick site. The Chiswick factories were sold in 1931. In 1976 Barley Mow Workspace opened with space for 200 people. It was the first commercially developed workspace, certainly in the UK and probably in the world.
The Barley Mow Centre now houses around 200 businesses specialising in creative industries as well as business services.
Barley Mow Centre as it is today
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