Hall’s Barton Ropery

Hall’s Ropery dates back to 1767 when the Halls, a wealthy ship-owning family from Hull, first became involved in rope making in Barton as the town already had a workforce of skilled dressers, spinners and rope makers. Ropemaking on the Maltkiln Road site is believed to have begun in 1800 when Thomas Hall and his son William bought land to the east of Barton Haven and buildings, including the characteristic “ropewalk”, were constructed. Thomas’s eldest son, John, began the development of ropemaking in earnest after the business was transferred to him around 1802 and the works steadily expanded .

His son, John Edward, continued the expansion of Hall’s Ropery but the company suffered with the advent of steam fishing so it was reborn in 1890 as Hall’s Barton Ropery Ltd with the works extended to meet the war-time demands between 1914 and 1918. Throughout the 1920s and 1930s, the company’s export trade was vigorously pursued with “Hall-Mark” ropes being supplied around the world. With the advance of new technology in plastics in the 1950s, the works began producing ropes from synthetic fibres and continued throughout the 1960s and 1970s to make both synthetic and natural fibre ropes.

In 1986, Hall’s Barton Ropery was bought by Bridport Gundry who continued making rope until 1989 when the site was sold to Bridon plc who soon announced the immediate closure of the site which took place December 1989.