Cadbury’s at Knighton

Time and Place: NarrowBoat, Autumn 2025

Christopher M Jones

Chris M. Jones studies a series of images showing canal traffic at Cadbury’s Knighton factory

Cadbury’s Knighton works was one of five branch factories located in dairy-farming districts, set up to mix fresh milk with chocolate – an essential process in the manufacture of Cadbury’s Dairy Milk chocolate. After years of perfecting its production method to create a pure form of cocoa, Cadbury’s introduced Dairy Milk in 1906 at Bournville. But the extra production could not be dealt with solely at Bournville, so other factories were set up including two next to the canal. The one at Knighton was opened in April 1911 alongside the Shropshire Union Canal, while another milk-condensing factory began operating at Frampton-on-Severn in 1916 on the Gloucester & Sharpness Canal. The purpose of these factories was to collect milk from the surrounding area and condense it by removing most of its water. On special canalside landing stages, farmers deposited their milk in churns which were collected twice daily by the milk boats. Some sugar was sourced from tro…