We are delighted to announce that we have been awarded £40,000 by the Garfield Weston Foundation, which has its own origins in the mill world. This grant will be used to create the world’s first roller flour mill archive and library here at the Mills Archive in Reading. Our holdings date back 2000 years to…
Author: Liz Bartram
Rotten Heritage!
Cliff Featherston of Upminster Windmill has sent us this striking photograph. It shows the cap frame during dismantling prior to renovation. Cliff says that the cleverly-coloured image “shows well the degree of decay over 213 years due to wet rot, dry rot and death-watch beetle. On the left guiding the craning is Willem Dijkstra, Dutch…
Local archive detectives join the ranks!
The Archive recently enjoyed a visit from Wokingham U3A as part of a collaborative effort between our two organisations. The U3A runs a Shared Learning Project programme and the local group chose to partner with the Archive. These volunteers will delve into a new and significant local collection, exposing the information it contains and helping…
The Mills Archive becomes a nationally accredited archive!
We are delighted to announce that we have been awarded archive accreditation by the National Archives. The badge of accreditation is national recognition for the quality of our work caring for the vulnerable records of milling history. Accreditation is the UK standard which recognises good performance in all areas of caring for historic records and…
Sacrewell Mill wins Project of the Year at regional awards
A £1.8m restoration of an 18th century grade II* listed watermill near Peterborough won Project of the Year at the East of England Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) awards last week. The photo shows Mill Project Officer Jane Harrison and Learning & Interpretation Officer Nikki Cherry with their awards outside Sacrewell Mill. Sacrewell Mill…
5 reasons why we are grateful for our volunteers
Today is the start of National Volunteers’ Week (extended this year from 1st to 12th June). For those of you who follow us on this blog, on Facebook and Twitter, you will have seen photos of some of our volunteers hard at work in lots of different ways. If you have been able to visit…
The Eling Experience comes to the Mills Archive
Last week we enjoyed a visit from a group based at The Eling Experience in Hampshire, who were looking for an introduction to archiving to help them in understanding and recording material related to their own mill – Eling Tide Mill. The Eling Experience received a Heritage Lottery Fund grant of £1.3 million in 2015…
Nuts & Bolters: new project announced!
The Mills Archive Trust has received a Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) Sharing Heritage grant. This exciting project, Nuts & Bolters, led jointly by the Mills Archive and the Mills Research Group, has been given £8,700 to create an online illustrated glossary of mill terms. Based on the stunning drawings by John Brandrick, a recognised mill…
Helping people at mills to care for their own collections
Last week we ran another of our training workshops called “Caring for your Collection”. This workshop was attended by people from a number of mills, who were looking for advice and the chance to build their own links in the mill world and share ideas. Our Archivist Nathanael Hodge started the day with a series…
Oldland Mill gets a special visit
Oldland Mill was recently blessed with the visit of two distinguished individuals. Iris and John Annett returned to the Mill on Thursday. They, along with Tommy Gee, were the first people to take on the challenge of rebuilding Oldland Mill. Their efforts paid off against all odds, and the mill was beautifully restored. Iris and…