“Tromode: More than just a village.” That’s what they say about this place in Braddan parish. Tromode sits on the border with Douglas. It is part of the Douglas conurbation. But there is more to Tromode than meets the eye.
Tromode’s story is intertwined with industry and innovation. The Moore family established sailcloth works here in 1790. They started in Duke Street. James and Edward Moore needed a bleaching field. They rented Ballabeg farm across the river from Tromode. After their father’s death in 1810, the brothers split their partnership in 1814. Edward started his business in the old corn mill across the river at Tromode. James moved back to Douglas. He started his factory in Factory Lane. In 1823, James bought his brother’s works after Edward’s bankruptcy. James bought Cronkbourne. He invented the name combining Manx Cronk and English bourne. He built Cronkbourne House and the works. His son, William Fine Moore, assisted him.
William Fine Moore started the village in the 1840s. He wanted to accommodate workers at his nearby Flax mill. The mill made sailcloth and other items. The village sits along the river to the North of the village. He lived in Cronkbourne House. It was a little south of the village along the river.
Imagine Tromode in its prime. Two lines of small terraced houses stood. They were separated by a grass sward. The village green ended in a schoolroom and chapel to the west. The river bounded the village to the east. It originally provided power for the works. Four larger houses existed in the northeast. They were probably for skilled engineers. These engineers were needed for the machinery. Even Archibald Knox, a pioneer of Manx Art Nouveau, was born in Tromode. His father worked here.
The Manx Sun described the factory in 1850. The motive power came from an iron water-wheel. It was 19ft in diameter and 8ft wide. Water was applied on the overshot principle. A horizontal steam-engine supplemented the water-wheel. It had a 16-inch cylinder and 8ft stroke. John Rowan and Sons of Belfast made the wheel.
Flax processing was a key operation. Heckling removed the tow or short fiber. Drawing machines straightened the fibers. Spinning occurred in upper rooms with 636 spindles. Samuel Lawson & Sons and Peter Fairbairne & Co of Leeds made the spinning and preparing machines. Yarn bleaching also took place on the premises. Weaving happened in a separate building with a roof designed for light admission. C. Parker of Dundee made the power looms.
Moore’s Tromode Works was unique. It provided an industrial housing estate at Cronkbourne. The mill complex used an overshot waterwheel. A steam engine served as a backup. In 1882, a Crompton dynamo provided electric power, partly replacing the firm’s gasworks.
Moore’s Tromode Works ceased linen production in 1905. Clucas’s Laundry later took over part of the site. It became a laundry and brush factory. Clucas’s Laundry was a large and well-equipped facility. The company owned the whole village of Tromode. They provided houses for their employees. The village was lit by electricity. Water turbines generated the electric current. They replaced the water wheel used by the Sail Cloth Works.
Today, Tromode has transformed. A new housing estate has been built to the east. The village itself has been saved. Both rows of houses have kept their facades. But the interiors have been modernized. The schoolroom and hall still stand. They were built to a design of Ewan Christian.
Tromode has seen industry, innovation, and community. It stands as a testament to the Isle of Man’s rich history.