Abraham Moon fabrics

Abraham Moon

We recently installed phase 1 of a renovated farmhouse project where the client decided to use Abraham Moon fabrics for all the window treatments. The first phase used five different Moon fabrics for nine windows, two of them having Roman Blinds and the rest Curtains with a double pinch pleat heading. The Curtains were all hung on the 35mm oak finish Woodline poles from Hallis Hudson.

The Abraham Moon mill is in Guiseley, only 11 miles from our base in Harrogate, so we are always pleased to support a wonderful, historic, Yorkshire business.

It’s well worth visiting the Abraham Moon website to read about the company history. The business was founded in 1837 and is one of the last remaining vertical woollen mills in Britain. This is an incredible feat in itself, there were hundreds of mills in West Yorkshire in Victorian times and the first half of the 20th century, so to survive as a successful business in an industry that has virtually disappeared locally is a fantastic achievement.

Abraham Moon started in business by supplying yarn to local families to weave cloth on hand looms in their homes, which he would then take by horse and cart to Leeds to sell in the market. The business prospered and in 1868 he built a three-storey mill which benefited from the newly built railway right behind the mill and by the 1890s the company was exporting to Europe and even Japan.

Tragically Abraham died in a carriage accident in 1877 however his son took over the business and it continued to flourish, becoming a fully vertical operation, starting with raw wool and managing all the processes on the one site to produce the finished fabrics.

That vertical integration enabled the company to successfully focus on the quality end of the market when increasing competition from man-made fabrics in the late 1980s/90s caused many mills to close. With a customer list including business like Burberry and Ralph Lauren, plus the very successful Moon brand itself, the company continues to thrive 180 years on from humble beginnings.