How did an old factory work? What are the processes to first of all make the yarn and then weave the cloth? What was life like for the people who worked there each day? The permanent exhibition The Textile Mill explains the whole chain of manufacturing woollen cloth in the original context of an early XX century factory, in a modern and evocative museum experience. The visit begins down in the underground area of the factory where the coalstore, the boilers, the chimney and the steam engine, the heart of the old mill, are conserved. Further on, in the main part of the mill, all the different phases of the production process, from preparing the wool, spinning, weaving, dyeing and finishing, and finally the warehouse, can be seen and understood. Throughout the exhibition the visitor can enjoy a textile machinery collection that is exceptional and unique to Catalonia, both in its technical quality as well as its state of conservation.
The exhibition recreates the feeling of the mill, the hum and movement of the steam engine, the working of the spinning machinery and the looms, the daily life of the workers, and the social tensions that led to the growth of the labour movement.
This exhibition is divided into 12 areas:
1. The coalstore
2. The chimney
3. Industrialists and workers
4. Spinning the wool to weave
5. Dyes and finishes
6. The technological change
7. The boilers
8. The steam engine
9. Preparing the wool to spin
10. Weaving the wool
11. The warehouse
12. The textile fibres
The exhibition occupies a total area of 2.200 m2 including the underground power sections, the engine room and the main mill room of the old Aymerich, Amat and Jover mill.
