 His son William Wood developed the first paper mill factory on the site from the 1750s.Converting an old apple-fruit press originally used for making cider, paper was initially produced by hand using the locally developed St Decumans process which utilisd a vat, to produce one cart of paper product per week.In 1846 business partners James Date, William Peach and John Wansbrough bought the business from Wood's estate, and introduced mechanised-production via a water wheel powered pulley system.