History (thanks wiki)…
During the early half of the 20th century, the Royal Victoria Dock became an essential part of industrial Britain and London’s largest centre of flour milling. Vernon & Sons were the third and last to set up in the area when they built Millennium Mills in 1905. The mills converted grain from overseas into flour for the London market and were the first in the Port of London designed to take imported grain direct from the ships.
The mills were extensive, featuring two plants, that had a capacity of 100 sacks per hour. W. A. Vernon described the mills in a single word as "palatial". Vernon and Sons named the mill after their most successful product, a flour variety which they called "Millennium Flour" after winning the "The Miller Challenge Cup" at the 1899 International Bakers Exhibition. Millennium Flour was aimed at the rising 20th-century masses, proving particularly popular in the mining districts, where it was known to make "beautiful white bread sandwiches".
All these mills were partially destroyed in 1917 by the Silvertown explosion at Brunner Mond's munitions factory. In 1920, Vernon & Sons was taken over by Spillers Limited, an established flour milling business founded in 1829, which subsequently went into the production of dog food and animal feeds by 1927. The Spillers name remains prominent on the east and west wings of the building, which was rebuilt as a 10-storey concrete art deco building in 1933.
Allegedly Millennium Mills is a destination for Urban Explorers, despite high security, dangers of structural weakness, ten-storey drops and asbestos.
The explore…
Following a quick exchange of texts the night before, a short motorcycle ride, then a train, a tube and a light railway journey brought us within view of our destination. After a brief pause for coffee, admiring the view from the bridge overlooking the site, we went in search of access. A succession of crawling under and squeezing through fences later and we were in. Then we were back out again as this proved to be the boiler house and an urbex cul-de-sac. Then we were in in and gleefully heading roofwards.
Guest starring… Cachewoo
With special thanks to… Shaddam, without whom our mission would have been an epic fail.
And lastly, if you look carefully you might just spot Krela on his boat...
As always, thanks for looking.
During the early half of the 20th century, the Royal Victoria Dock became an essential part of industrial Britain and London’s largest centre of flour milling. Vernon & Sons were the third and last to set up in the area when they built Millennium Mills in 1905. The mills converted grain from overseas into flour for the London market and were the first in the Port of London designed to take imported grain direct from the ships.
The mills were extensive, featuring two plants, that had a capacity of 100 sacks per hour. W. A. Vernon described the mills in a single word as "palatial". Vernon and Sons named the mill after their most successful product, a flour variety which they called "Millennium Flour" after winning the "The Miller Challenge Cup" at the 1899 International Bakers Exhibition. Millennium Flour was aimed at the rising 20th-century masses, proving particularly popular in the mining districts, where it was known to make "beautiful white bread sandwiches".
All these mills were partially destroyed in 1917 by the Silvertown explosion at Brunner Mond's munitions factory. In 1920, Vernon & Sons was taken over by Spillers Limited, an established flour milling business founded in 1829, which subsequently went into the production of dog food and animal feeds by 1927. The Spillers name remains prominent on the east and west wings of the building, which was rebuilt as a 10-storey concrete art deco building in 1933.
Allegedly Millennium Mills is a destination for Urban Explorers, despite high security, dangers of structural weakness, ten-storey drops and asbestos.
The explore…
Following a quick exchange of texts the night before, a short motorcycle ride, then a train, a tube and a light railway journey brought us within view of our destination. After a brief pause for coffee, admiring the view from the bridge overlooking the site, we went in search of access. A succession of crawling under and squeezing through fences later and we were in. Then we were back out again as this proved to be the boiler house and an urbex cul-de-sac. Then we were in in and gleefully heading roofwards.
Guest starring… Cachewoo
With special thanks to… Shaddam, without whom our mission would have been an epic fail.
And lastly, if you look carefully you might just spot Krela on his boat...
As always, thanks for looking.
