By 1809 a water driven carding engine was in use at Tal-y-bont where ThomasMorgan from the Caersws district of Montgomeryshire established the LeriMills. He leased land from the Gogerddan Estate together with the buildingknown as the Old Mill. Undoubtedly the Old Mill referred to in thedeeds was the fulling mill which had been in existence in Tal-y-bont fromthe early C17.

 

By 1835 the Leri Mills had carding engines , fulling stocks, a hand mule forspinning, together with a number of hand looms. Some of these looms wereavailable for outside weavers, an entry in the account book for Leri Millsin 1841 reads ;" Thos Williams, wever. 9 weeks for use of loom--2s.6d.".Thomas Morgan also employed a number of outworkers who wove yarn, spun atthe mill, on hand looms in their homes. These weavers lived in an extensivearea stretching from Penrhyn-coch in the south to Corris in the north.

 

Most of the flannel was sold locally, to both farmers and lead miners, orsold at fairs at Aberystwyth, Machynlleth, or Tal-y-bont.Some of the spinners employed at the Leri Mills in the 1830s and 1840s,using the same hand mule as is used today[1968] were paid a piece ratewage, the average earnings being 10 shillings a week. Others were paid afixed wage, an entry in 1844 reads ;" May 15th 1844--Edward Roberts , Spinner. Hired until May 17th [1845] for six shillings a week."​