The Art Of Paper

In a hidden Exmoor Valley SIMONE STANBROOK-BYRNE discovers an ancient mill with 21st century credentials

- Simone Stanbrook-Byrne

What connects Exmoor, Manchester and a 400-year-old water mill? If you are an artist you may already know the answer: Two Rivers Paper.

Set in an idyllically beautiful valley on the outskirts of Roadwater, Pitt Mill is the hub of a business that is unique in the UK. Here, Jim Patterson and his team create bespoke, handmade paper for artists, printers and designers. It is a product so highly regarded that in the 2019 Heritage Craft Awards Jim was named Maker of the Year ‘in recognition of the quality of his work, for his role in developing the skills of others and for the innovations which are enabling him to keep the craft alive’.

It is a well-deserved accolade. Having worked in the papermaking industry all his life, Jim bought the name of the then Manchester-based Two Rivers Paper in 1986. In the same year he and his wife sold their cottage a quarter of a mile along the valley and bought historic Pitt Mill; by happy coincidence, there are two rivers here: the Washford River System. At the time of their purchase the mill part of the building was derelict, the original mill wheel having been removed between the two World Wars.