Weird Museums: The Hat Works Museum of Hatting

For today’s museum field trip, we’re going to take a little visit to Stockport, Manchester in the UK and visit the beloved Hat Works Museum of Hatting.

We’ve all seen historical hats in history books, documentaries, and period pieces, but Stockport has a lot to teach us nonetheless. Millinery, initially derived from the term Miliner (which referred to merchants from Milan who sold the best finery in the early 16th century), is the design, manufacture, and sale of hats and headwear. Still practiced around the world today in an apprenticeship model, new machinery can only go so far in comparison to the high level of craftsmanship and creativity hatmakers practice.

A hat taking shape [photo by Atlas Obscura]

Like most of history, millinery history has been a bit whitewashed and favors the luxurious, fashionable hats of western culture and largely ignores the rich cultural history of African, Asian, and South American styles of hats - usually made with straw. These non-western hats tend to be much more practical than their European counterparts. For example, the straw hat in Africa is designed to be used as a basket for cropping, protection from the sun, heat, and rain, a means to divert or attract animals, and express creativity. There are also elements of social status as well as symbolic ceremonial and religious uses. In Japan, there was a veiled type of hat that lengthened to the hips and sometimes even the knees; this was designed to conceal the figures of noble ladies from passers-by. The Japanese have also traditionally used various straw hat styles as a means of personal identification: samurais wear a different style hat than monks, for example.

The Hatworks Museum, however, focuses primarily on hat styles and industry of the surrounding area - one rich in millinery and textile history. It started with the silk trade when, in 1717 John Lombe went to Italy to study the design of their silk machinery. Up until this point, England couldn’t really compete in the silk trade. Once Lombe returned from Italy, he patented the design and started production. When it came time for Lombe to renew his patent in 1732, silk spinners from the area joined together to petition parliament to not allow him to renew; they won, and silk mills began to crop up all over. The infrastructure in Stockport - lots of water power sites for the silk mills - made it an ideal place for cotton processing as well, and this effort was pioneered by one Samuel Oldknow in the late 18th century.

With all of this textile production, Stockport and the surrounding areas were well positioned to host hatmakers. By the early 19th century the area had a reputation for quality work.

The Hatting Museum itself started as a cotton mill, Wellington Mill, built around 1830 by Thomas Marsland. It changed hands a few times as the landscape of the industry evolved, but eventually landed with the Ward brothers: milliners extraordinaire who were specialists in hat finishing and trimming. By 1997, Stockton’s 400-year history of hatting came to an end as the last factory closed its doors. Three years later, the Hat Works Museum of Hatting opened to the public in the historic Wellington Mill, and displays an impressive collection of 20th-century British hats such as top hats, bowlers, trilbies, homburgs, and many more. They have over 500 hats in their collection, 250 or so of which are on display at a given time.

Winston Churchill donning a Homburg style hat [photo by gentlemansgazette.com]

Visitors will not only learn about the history of Stockport, they will get to see this history of hatmaking unfold in life-like dioramas: guests can see a recreation of a hatter’s cottage, a hat block maker’s workshop and office typical of the time. They will learn about the technology of the millinery industry and see first hand how different styles evolved over the decades. Kids are welcome to play dress up, and can even make their own hats to take home.

Sources & Further Reading

Wikipedia - Hat Works

Official Website - Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council

TripAdvisor - Hat Works Museum of Hatting