Home Park Paper Mill

Paper making was a big industry in the River Gade valley. There were mills at Apsley, Nash, Home Park and Croxley. They were all owned by John Dickinson, who created machines for making paper in the early 19^th century and started an industry which was to employ thousands of local people for many generations.

Home Park Mill in Kings Langley was John Dickinson’s third paper factory, built in 1825. It was built in response to the demand that he had created with his “Endless Web” machine,. Situated close to the Grand Union Canal and at a later date the West Coast Main Line, serving the mill with power and transport, it was possibly the first such mill built from scratch instead of being a conversion of a former flour, fulling or hand-made paper mill.

For the first 60 years, it was part of the company’s manufacturing of paper and card. New management in 1888 turned it into a specialised coating and finishing factory for paper that had been made at nearby Apsley and Nash Mills.

The mill expanded in the 1930s to include the production of gummed paper and paper-tape. Self-adhesive tapes were introduced under the brand name “Holdfast” after WW2 and production grew with the building of a brand new factory in 1959. Dickinson’s merged with the Robinson Group in 1966. Robinson’s similar “Sellotape” brand was the market leader in adhesive tapes. Production was “rationalised” and Home Park Mill closed in 1980 with the loss of 300 jobs.

The Mill had been an important part of the John Dickinson Empire, providing jobs for hundreds of local people who appreciated the company’s caring approach to its workers, with the provision of housing, pensions and good social and sports facilities. No evidence of the historic mill remains. The only clue of its existence is the name of the road – Home Park Mill Link Road. The site has been redeveloped with offices, flats and a road across the valley.

Read an account of the history of the mill in the booklet Home Park Paper Mill at Kings Langley, Hertfordshire published by Apsley Paper Trail and available from Kings Langley Local History & Museum Society outlets.

You might also like to see the Apsley Paper Trail History pages, Dacorum Heritage Trust and information about the Dickinson family, especially Sir John Evans, at the Ashmolean Museum website. Also see Hertfordshire Genealogy for more helpful information.