Report - Healings Flour Mill, Tewkesbury May '11

[mookster]

After a bit of pondering me and the two usual suspects decided on a drive from Worcester into Tewkesbury to check out a big old mill. With no idea of access, security or location in the town it was truly a voyage of discovery and a wholly successful explore was had - we ran out of time in the end but that didn't matter as we did a quick check on the older part of the site to find access impossible, everything was sealed. But we did see a good chunk of it, I couldn't believe how good a condition it's in internally it was like they just walked out one day and never came back.

History:

Tewkesbury has a history of flour milling spanning many centuries. Monks from Tewkesbury abbey used to produce flour at a watermill on the Avon, but by far the most substantial mill was just upstream from here. The photo above shows the massive Healings Mill complex, built for Samuel Healing in 1865. It did not start out that big, but bits were added here and there over the years and it grew into a sprawling tangle of different aged buildings. Luckily, the handsome 1865 buildings survive today.

When built, it was considered to be the largest and most modern flour mill in the world, producing 25 sacks of flour an hour in 1892. It has had, in the course of it's history, three means of transport in and out of it. It had road access via a handsome cast-iron bridge, rail access via the Tewkesbury to Upton-upon-Severn railway line, and canal / river barge access via the Avon. Barges were used right up until 1998, as the mill had two barges named Chaceley and Tirley which transported grain to the mill from Avonmouth and Sharpness.

The mill was purchased by Allied Mills in the 1970s, and was completely refurbished and fitted out with brand new machinery. It was in turn taken over by ADM Milling, but in 2006 they announced the closure of the mill and the loss of around 40 jobs. It milled flour for the last time on October 20th, 2006, ending 140 years of milling on that site.

Thanks for looking, more pics here Healings Flour Mill