Along the Cheshire Silk Road

Macclesfield is a small, unassuming town with a rich history; a contrast it shares with one of its oldest local businesses, Adamley Textiles. Tucked away in a scenic waterside location on the town’s outskirts, the red-brick silk mill is easily missed, yet it hums with a quiet commitment to its heritage craft.

Silk manufacturing has shaped Macclesfield’s identity since the eighteenth century. Benefiting from its proximity to the River Bollin – a vital source of clean, clear water – and a skilled local workforce, the town became the heart of the British silk industry, eventually housing 71 mills and thousands of looms at its peak. By refining ancient methods and pioneering new techniques, Cheshire’s mills helped establish England as a globally recognised leader in high-quality silk production.

Adamley, which specialises in printed silk, has been a part of this story for over fifty years; half a decade spent preserving and continuing the practices that came before. Due to industrial changes and the rise of synthetic fabrics, the traditional craft has gradually waned, leaving Adamley now standing as one of Macclesfield's last silk mills. “We hold a significant position as a guardian of tradition and heritage,” reflects Federica Eusebio, Sales Director at Adamley. “We stand for the continued existence of a craft that was once widely practised in the area.”

“Our scarves are made by highly skilled craftspeople who excel at artisanal production methods,” Federica says. “We embrace technology, but it remains secondary to our roots.” The dyeing, printing, and finishing all take place under one roof, using locally sourced water from the Peak District. “We also use water from our own reservoir during different stages of our production, and have installed solar panels to limit energy consumption.”

For our Autumn Winter 2025 collection, led by the concept The Curious Mind, Adamley has produced a silk scarf designed by TOAST, digitally printed in vivid hues and patterned with a bold paintbox motif. 

The process begins with discussions between Adamley and the TOAST design team about the most appropriate silk, print size, and method. The chosen silk base is then scoured and printed using low pH colours to ensure even saturation. Adamley creates thousands of custom print pastes, carefully balancing the formulas to control how the pigment absorbs. The design is then printed, cured, and washed before the scarf is hand-finished to achieve the desired drape.

Each stage relies on a nuanced understanding of silk and its unique properties, including its response to moisture, temperature, and tension. Some Adamley team members have refined their skills over decades, honing an instinctive sense of timing and touch that can't be replicated by technology. Dyes are hand-mixed, designs are engraved onto the traditional printing screens and painted by hand with great precision. The colours, which are made bespoke for a single order, are often adjusted by eye.

These scarves will join a vast and varied portfolio of prints brought to life in this historic Macclesfield factory. “Our archive of 70,000 original designs includes artwork dating back to the eighteenth century,” says Federica. “This legacy, combined with the talent of our workers, keeps Adamley at the very forefront of silk printing.”

Words by Bébhinn Campbell.

Photography by James Bannister.