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National Mills Weekend 2025

  • media6075
  • 1 day ago
  • 1 min read

It's time for one of our favourite events of the year: #NationalMillsWeekend!


Our friends at SPAB (The Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings) organise a weekend every year where hundreds of mills – including some not normally open to the public – will be open for visitors to come and explore.


This year's theme is ‘Mills in Time’, providing a focus on the way that mills past and present have been recorded in pictorial form. From the SPAB website: 'With their elegant turning sails or distinctive waterwheels, it’s not surprising that windmills and watermills appear so frequently in paintings and photographs, posters and postcards. These instantly recognisable buildings feature in some of Britain’s most popular works of art: in a BBC poll, John Constable’s The Hay Wain, featuring Flatford Mill in Suffolk, was voted the nation’s second best-loved painting.'


A drone aerial photograph of a large excavation site located next to a meander of the River Derwent. The site includes deep excavations and stone and brick remains of a now-demolished building. Modern buildings are behind.
Aerial View of CFA excavations at Milford Mills

Pictured above is Milford Mills, a World Heritage Site in the Derwent Valley that we had the pleasure of excavating. Milford Mill was first established in the 1780's as a cotton mill, powered by waterwheels on the River Derwent. Over time, it grew to also include a bleach and dye works. Although the cotton mill site was demolished in the 1960's, the bleachworks continued in use until the 1990's. We think this mill is just chef's kiss!


For more info on the weekend: https://www.spab.org.uk/mills/NMW

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