The Rex Wailes Collection is one of the single most important mill collections of the 20th century. Rex’s collection encapsulates a time of great change, when the old was making way for the new, and much of the Nation’s milling heritage was disappearing. Will you make a donation to help protect the collection and make it publically available?
Rex was an engineer, it was in his blood. His father had set up an engineering business and Rex was keen to follow in his footsteps. However, unlike his father, Rex became a leading consultant for the repair of windmills. He played a significant role in the SPAB Mills Section, where he was Chairman and its first President. He also worked for the National Trust and the Royal Commission on Historic Monuments.
The thousands of photographs, large drawings, glass plates, negatives, notes and correspondence immortalise mills, the people involved and the landscape they shared. Rex was enamoured by windmills. He would use family holidays to continue documenting the passing of these historic structures, and his passion took him around the world. The records also reflect his engineer’s interest in the many industrial uses to which milling expertise was put.
Much of Rex’s photographic work took place in the 1920s. This was a very significant period when traditional mills struggled from the after effects of the First World War, which signalled the demise for many of them. His photographic records, many of which are captured in fragile glass plates, provide a rare insight into how these mills were built and how they worked, before they began to fall into decay and disrepair.
Since Rex’s death more than 30 years ago, the Science Museum has been safeguarding his collection. Now, it has been entrusted to the Mills Archive.
This is only the start of the journey: much needs to be done to look after this collection so that it can be consulted and enjoyed.
As the new custodians for this collection, we are now appealing for funds to help us take action –
will you help bring Rex’s memory and his research to life?
Make a donation so that this collection becomes accessible to today’s researchers as soon as possible.
Your support will also ensure that the memories, knowledge and expertise will be saved for future generations to learn from and to celebrate their milling heritage.
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The Mills Archive Trust, Watlington House, 44 Watlington Street, Reading, RG1 4RJ, UK.
The Mills Archive was established in 2002 as a permanent repository for historical and contemporary material on traditional mills and milling. It has rescued over 2 million documents and images that might otherwise have ended up in a landfill site.
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