Hi guys,
Some brief history of the mill taken from Wikipedia - Bourton 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 restart 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 split up into three sections, with one obviously being the oldest section, a more modern manufacturing side and then a small newish building at the front of the site.
The older two are riddled with asbestos, unguarded edges and fragile roofs and floors but seem to have a lot of machinery left in place, seemly too large and costly to remove. It's a shame that a site in a small country village in the corner of Dorset has been subjected to so much vandalism.
Yes, that is a large mental shard hanging precariously over our heads....
Thanks for looking
Some brief history of the mill taken from Wikipedia - Bourton 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 restart 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 split up into three sections, with one obviously being the oldest section, a more modern manufacturing side and then a small newish building at the front of the site.
The older two are riddled with asbestos, unguarded edges and fragile roofs and floors but seem to have a lot of machinery left in place, seemly too large and costly to remove. It's a shame that a site in a small country village in the corner of Dorset has been subjected to so much vandalism.
Yes, that is a large mental shard hanging precariously over our heads....
Thanks for looking
