Paper, first made in China some 2,000 years ago, was gradually adopted across the globe for writing, drawing, painting and, by the 15th century, printing, although the English continued to create parchment from sheepskin, as the animal’s abundance made it cheaper to produce. It was John Tate at Sele Mill, Hertfordshire, who first brought paper-makers from France and Holland to teach English apprentices how to create paper by hand using recycled fibres from rags of poor cloth or good linen, and by the late 1400s Tate was producing such high-quality paper that Henry VII visited in 1498 to reward him for its excellence. However, ultimately Tate could not compete with European paper prices, so he closed the mill and retired.
A German-born jeweller, John Spilman, in Dartford, Kent, secured the…
