1894
C R Smith and H W Girling - trading as 'Smith & Girling', have commissioned this impressive factory building which was constructed by Wangford builder, Mr Chilver, equipped by Whitmore & Binyon of Wickham Market and is opened on the first of January this year by the Countess of Stradbroke. The mill is a modern steam-powered roller mill, the first such in the town. Southwold's three wind-powered mills have by now all been demolished or have burned down. Its products include, in addition to flour, malts, hops, pollards (animal feed), linseed cake and manure. Smith & Girling have other branches in Wangford, Walberswick and Halesworth and have their own cargo boats to carry coal for their own steam boilers and for sale. A pioneer of 'health and safety' in an industry traditionally vulnerable to fire, Smith & Girling have divided their mill into three sealable compartments, linked by fireproof iron doors. To read a contemporary description of the facility in the 1903 publication 'Southwold & Neighbourhood', click here.

1916
H W Girling dies this year and the business closes in 1918.

1921
The premises are taken over by ...

F L Pallant - Managing Director of Fordux Manufacturing Co, wholesale bedding manufacturers.

According to the unpublished memoirs of Cyril Steley, the name 'Fordux' is a back-to-front version of 'Duxford', the new Cambridgeshire RAF base where Mr F L Pallant has recently been stationed.

1924
F L Pallant - Fordux Manufacturing Co - Wholesale Bedding anufacturers (K1924)

1928
The company goes into voluntary liquidation this year (London Gazette 7/12/1928) but, in February 1929, is reborn as a Limited Company - Fordux Mills Limited. The East Anglian newspaper reports this as a restructuring to enable expansion. An extension to the factory has been built to make mattress filling material, flock - only the second such plant in the country. The new factory will, it is reported, employ about 50 people.

"The factory, a fireproof building, is of steel and asbestos construction, and embraces the most modern requirements for the health and well-being of employees. Machinery of the latest type is installed to produce materials of the very highest standard of purity. Mitive power is supplied by Messrs Crossley Bros of Manchester, by one of their new model, high-powered oil engines..." East Anglian.

1933
Fordux Mills - Bedding and Flock manufacturers. (K1933, K1937)

1947
Fordux Mills - Bedding and Flock manufacturers. According to the London Gazette of 9/9/1947, the company once more goes into voluntary liquidation, but is reborn as Fordux Mills (1947) Ltd

1953
Fordux Mills (1947) Ltd - Bedding Manufacturers (CSP1953).
During the 1950s Fordux is acquired by Slumberland Ltd, one of its principal clients. (Date required)

Slumberland Ltd - Bedding Manufacturer

1974
Slumberland Ltd - The factory closes and the building is converted into flats known as 'St Edmund's Court'