1837 was a memorable year in at least two respects – it was the year in which Queen Victoria succeeded to the British throne, and it was also the year that Abraham Moon & Sons was established.
Abraham Moon was a clothier with a considerable standing in the community of Guiseley – a town on the Northern fringes of Leeds and the Southern fringes of the Yorkshire Dales. He supplied many local families with yarn to weave cloth on hand looms in their homes. Once woven, he would collect the pieces, paying the weavers for their work. The cloth was then scoured locally and hung out to dry in the surrounding fields. Abraham would then transport the pieces by horse and cart to Leeds for sale in the market.
History of Moon
In 1868, Abraham had a three-story mill built on Netherfield Road in Guiseley, less than 300 yards from his house at the top of Oxford Avenue. The newly built railway to Leeds ran directly behind the mill which had its own sidings, which proved to be an invaluable form of transport.
After Abraham’s death in 1877, his son Isaac succeeded him in the business, which continued to flourish throughout the remainder of the Victorian era. In 1902, Isaac built a larger, fully vertical mill, meaning all manufacturing processes took place on one site – from raw wool through dyeing, blending, carding, spinning, warping, weaving, and finishing the fabrics.
In 1920, the company was sold to Charles Walsh, whose descendant John Walsh serves as chairman of Moon today. With over 185 years of proudly British manufacturing and design heritage to its name, the company continues to stand out for its unrivalled character and quality. Today, they are one of only a few mills within the United Kingdom that manufacture and sell their cloth directly to customers from a single site, allowing them to control every single stage within the production process to the highest standard.
