Quality from Buckland

We are used to thinking that handmade paper is significantly superior to all other types of paper available on the market. In principle, this is true, but fortunately for our pockets, there are exceptions.

Conquerour is undoubtedly one of them. The history of this paper dates back to 1761, when Buckland Mill was established, one of six factories involved in papermaking in the Dour River Valley. At that time, production was not large, it is estimated at several dozen kilograms per week. However, in the early 1790s, the mill was enlarged. In 1814, it burned down completely, but a decision was made to rebuild it. In 1822, a Fourdriniers machine was installed in it, significantly streamlining the entire production process. Suffice it to say that thanks to this device, already in 1827, five workers were producing as much paper as about 60 people had previously. The company developed without any problems until 1887, when a fire once again destroyed its buildings and equipment.

Here the figure of Edward Percy Barlow, a director of the London paper company Wiggins & Teape, appears. Barlow dreamed of creating his own paper, decorated with a watermark, not inferior in quality to handmade paper, but cheaper and more readily available. Henry Hobday, the owner of the mill in Buckland, promised to meet this task, when his back was against the wall. And, in 1888, his machines produced the first sheets of paper, marked with the Conqueror watermark. Two years later, in 1890, Wiggins & Teape bought the entire factory, where production continued uninterrupted until 1999, when the legal successor of Wiggins & Teape, the international concern Arjo Wiggins, decided to end production in Buckland, transferring it to other paper mills belonging to the concern.

Conqueror paper itself has survived all the turbulence and is still – as it was in Queen Victoria's time – one of the best types of paper available on the market. The word Conqueror itself has become synonymous with quality in the publishing and paper industry.

It is no wonder then that we confidently printed Stanisław Trembecki's Sofiówka on this very paper.

In the photo, a filigree of Conqueror Connoisseur paper. Photo from: www.watermarks.info