The Restoration of Little Hallingbury Watermill

Built in 1874 this fine old water mill, in its delightful setting on the River Stort, was a corn mill until 1952 when it became uneconomic and was shut down; at the time it produced only 8-10 sacks of flour per day. For the next fifteen years the mill lay idle and, as a result of lack of care and maintenance, deteriorated until 1967 when it was purchased along with adjacent land surrounding the mill stream, by John and June Wilkinson who appreciated its potential value both as a business proposition – the mill stream providing boat moorings – and as an example of industrial archaeology worthy of preservation. No time was lost in planning to restore the mill to its former grandeur.