The mill has been making paper since 1774, and installed the world’s first Fourdrinier mechanised papermaking machine in 1803.
It makes a range of artisan papers including its popular air-dried seed paper.
The site in Apsley, near Hemel Hempstead, is also home to the Apsley Paper Trail Charitable Trust, which works to educate and preserve paper heritage.
The fire apparently started in a skip on Saturday afternoon, then spread to the mill’s buildings with a large amount of smoke billowing around the area.
Hertfordshire Fire & Rescue sent six fire engines and a control unit to tackle the blaze.
Assistant chief fire officer Simon Tuhill tweeted: “We used large numbers of firefighters in breathing apparatus who had to work really hard in the challenging conditions to stop the fire spreading.”
Well done to all the crews at yesterdays large fire in Frogmore Paper Mill in #HemelHempstead. They worked incredibly hard to save as much of the building and it’s historic contents as possible. pic.twitter.com/S9zS1SNFUF
— Simon Tuhill (@HFRS_ACFO) January 23, 2022
In a statement issued yesterday, Frogmore Paper Mill thanked the fire service for its quick response and said it hoped its historic machinery had survived: “Following a fire on 22 January 2022, Frogmore Paper Mill will be closed to visitors until further notice. Thankfully nobody was injured during the fire, but there has been extensive damage to the Mill’s visitor centre.
“We’re in the process of assessing the damage to the site and our collection, and we’re hopeful that our historic working paper machines have survived.”
A 13-year-old boy was subsequently arrested on suspicion of arson and has been released under investigation while police enquiries into the incident continue.
The Apsley Paper Trail lost a significant amount of income due to the pandemic, and was awarded a major grant of £213,600 from the third round of the Government’s Culture Recovery Fund at the end of last year.
