The other traditional use for mills in Llangollen and Llantysilio was in the wool and cotton industries. The original mills were the Pandai or Fulling Mills, used to strengthen wool before it was made into clothing or blankets. Cleaning and stabilising cloth was an important activity in medieval times. Cloth was beaten in a water and clay (Fullers Earth) filled trough and stretched tightly on tenter frames to bleach in the sun. The Cistercian monks of Valle Crucis undoubtedly brought with them an increase in the use of wool and there are at least two old Pandys to be found in Llantysilio.
The increase in demand and the industrial revolution brought larger scale operations to Llangollen with the development of the Dee Cotton Mills in 1805 and Mile End Mill.
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