While driving home from exploring the wiltshire underground i mentioned to evilgenius about a derelict mill in a little village in north dorset, it was on out way back so we decided to check it out.
We found the mill no problem but getting in was a different story.
A little info stolen from the dorset page:
In 1860 the largest water wheel in Europe was set in the River Stour alongside the mill. It was made in the mill of iron and had a diameter of 60 feet. Another waterwheel built in 1902 by E.S. Hindley of Bourton, which worked on the Duke of Somerset's estate in Maiden Bradley, providing the village and surroundign farms with drinking water can be seen at the Kew Bridge Steam Museum in London. By this time the mill had become a foundry, and later went on to produce some of the first steam driven cars.
Some more info from the wiki page:
The mill, which is mentioned in the Domesday book, has had many incarnations. As a linen mill it processed flax and supplied canvas to the Royal Navy but when industry declined it was developed into a foundry with a blast furnace and was one of the first places to make the new threshing machines in the West of England. It went on to build boilers, steam lorries and gas engines as well as gaining a reputation as a builder of water wheels. During the First World War Mills Bombs were produced here in vast quantities. After the Gasper dam burst upriver in the summer of 1917, much of the machinery was washed from the factory and it took a number of years for industry to re-start on the site. When it did return in 1933 the factory entered its final phase as a dried milk processing plant and this continued up until its closure in 1998. It is now derelict with many of the oldest buildings in a state of collapse.
The mill is in an absolute state with graffiti and mess everywhere, aswell as asbestos and dodgy floors.
We only explored the modern side of the mill as it was getting dark so will have to return to check out the old building.
Anyway on with the pics.
Thanks for looking.
We found the mill no problem but getting in was a different story.
A little info stolen from the dorset page:
In 1860 the largest water wheel in Europe was set in the River Stour alongside the mill. It was made in the mill of iron and had a diameter of 60 feet. Another waterwheel built in 1902 by E.S. Hindley of Bourton, which worked on the Duke of Somerset's estate in Maiden Bradley, providing the village and surroundign farms with drinking water can be seen at the Kew Bridge Steam Museum in London. By this time the mill had become a foundry, and later went on to produce some of the first steam driven cars.
Some more info from the wiki page:
The mill, which is mentioned in the Domesday book, has had many incarnations. As a linen mill it processed flax and supplied canvas to the Royal Navy but when industry declined it was developed into a foundry with a blast furnace and was one of the first places to make the new threshing machines in the West of England. It went on to build boilers, steam lorries and gas engines as well as gaining a reputation as a builder of water wheels. During the First World War Mills Bombs were produced here in vast quantities. After the Gasper dam burst upriver in the summer of 1917, much of the machinery was washed from the factory and it took a number of years for industry to re-start on the site. When it did return in 1933 the factory entered its final phase as a dried milk processing plant and this continued up until its closure in 1998. It is now derelict with many of the oldest buildings in a state of collapse.
The mill is in an absolute state with graffiti and mess everywhere, aswell as asbestos and dodgy floors.
We only explored the modern side of the mill as it was getting dark so will have to return to check out the old building.
Anyway on with the pics.
Thanks for looking.
