By SUE WILD

Paper is one of the most consequential of all human inventions yet is rarely afforded much attention.
The Paper Foundation is a charity located in England, committed to ensuring the survival of papermaking by hand and conserving the artifacts of the traditional industry.

Since 1495 when John Tate founded Sele Mill in Hertfordshire, handmade paper has been produced in Britain. Using traditional craft skills, which have remained largely unchanged for hundreds of years, papers of quality and beauty have been produced. For decades Griffen Mill was the worlds pre-eminent producer of archival handmade papers. In 2019 the Heritage Crafts Association acknowledged the making of paper by hand to be a critically endangered practice and at imminent risk of extinction. In response The Paper Foundation was founded by Mark Cropper, a fifth-generation paper maker and the current Chairman of James Cropper, a leading maker of fine manufactured papers. In early 2020, owing to the forthcoming retirement of the Griffen Mill papermaker, the Paper Foundation was chosen as their successor and crucial items of precious machinery were transferred to a new home.

The Paper Foundation is now the only producer of handmade book and conservation papers in Britain and one of a handful internationally. It operates a handmade paper mill and supplies papers to leading conservators, bookbinders, museums, presses, and artists worldwide. In so doing it ensures the survival of the traditional skills of the craft and the continued production of high quality handmade papers. The Foundation is also committed to conserving the objects and artefacts that comprise the physical heritage of papermaking. It has compiled an archive, collection and library of international significance including a collection of over 700 papermaking moulds from the leading names in British paper-making including Whatman, Barcham Green and Wookey Hole.

The Paper Foundation is based in Burneside in the English Lake District, a mill village since the Middle Ages and a paper-making community since 1746.

The James Cropper paper-mill still sits at its heart. It is one of the UKs oldest family businesses and the worlds leading maker of luxury and technical papers.

All the papers are handmade from traditional natural fibres such as cotton, hemp and abaca. They are all internally buffered, neutrally sized and free from optical brightners. All have four true deckle edges. The staff are constantly developing the range of colours, weights, textures and finishes. The Paper Foundation plans to open studios and run workshops offering a variety of skills. These will be housed in Ellergreen, a 19th century mansion overlooking the village of Burneside and a former home of the Cropper family, which now stands largely empty and unused.

The Paper Foundation has large stocks of vintage handmade watercolour paper. It has inherited the remaining stocks of RWS paper, made to the exacting specifications of the Royal Watercolour Society at Hayle Mill in England between 1895 and 1987. These papers are widely regarded as among the finest artists papers ever produced.

www.paper.foundation