Hello everyone. For those of you wondering why my social media, mainly Facebook, vanished, it was all because of my birthday! It's going to sound ridiculous, but my birthday has often coincided with childhood trauma, and it's made quite a mess of my mental health. So I celebrate by avoiding it entirely! Although personally I find it quite hilarious that I'm so insanely carefree, but my two major weaknesses are birthdays and dairy products, but it is what it is.
And while I think the internet is great, the fact that it tells everyone that it's my birthday is just one of those aspects of Facebook that I find a little intrusive. So I deleted it, and then I just filled the last few days with adventure, excitement, really wild things, and just generally did whatever I wanted. And most of the people around me had no idea of the significance because Facebook wasn't around to tell them. It was great. I haven't had this much fun on the completion of a lap around a gigantic nuclear fireball on a giant ball of dirt in years. But then, adventuring is very therapeutic, as I mentioned last blog.
Todays adventure took place in South Shropshire, where there stands a derelict mill.
It didn't have a lot left to see, but was still incredibly photogenic, and it likely won't be there forever.
Having known about it for a while, thanks to my ex's dad, it took me a while to get around to actually checking it out, but I finally managed to convince Brother Michael to swing by for a visit. Brother Michael, as I've said before, is a chap who I initially started bringing on adventures to help him with his mental health, and as such I find him very easy to talk to about my own. He's the Lady Penelope to my Parker, the Morty to my Rick, the Pinky to my Brain.
But enough about this. On with the adventure. Check out this gorgeous building!
This mill shows up on maps from the late 1800s, where it is depicted as a Corn Mill. However this clashes with what some sources on the internet say. Clearly someone isn't telling the truth, and I'm going to bet on the Victorian cartographers, because since when has anyone on the internet ever lied, ever?
However, these maps did display some interesting anomalies that suggested that the mill was part of something larger. In the north is a manor, and the remains of a Benedictine priory, which is even mentioned on the map from the 1800s as being in ruins, which isn't surprising given the dissolution of the monasteries. But dotted around the mill are various other tidbits that suggest that the land was owned by eccentric rich people, such as a square island surrounded by a moat, with seemingly nothing on it, and also a maze just south of the mill. These Victorian maps are surprisingly detailed. However the moat and the maze no longer exist today, but it did make me wonder just what this mill was a part of, and prompted me to research the surrounding area.
The mill was actually a comparative late addition to the surrounding landscape, dating back to around the 1890s, coinciding perhaps unsurprisingly with a period when the nearby church and ruined priory were purchased and partially restored.
The priory dates back to 1086 but fell out of use after the dissolution of the monasteries in 1541. The priory and a nearby church were purchased in 1558, with part of the church being converted into a house, while the rest of it still operating as a parish church until it was damaged by a fire in the 1600s. It was restored in 1889, around the time that the mill was built.
The land around the mill, containing the moat, the maze, and pheasant hunting grounds and fishing pools, all became an ornamental park around the same time that the church was converted into a house, so maybe there is a connection there.
This area became a deer park and gardens in the 1820s, and expanded around 1840. It survived well into the 1990s. However, the Mill is scarcely mentioned, simply said to be on the site too, and is also noted on maps from the 1940s as being disused. It's had over half a century to decay, and was registered as a listed building in 1974.
As you can see, the mill has a door upstairs, with the remains of the pulley system used to load stock up into the mill.
In spite of its rare mentions, old photos of it do exist, showing it in various states of disrepair thoughtout the 20th Century.
Here it's completely overgrown, and the river is also different.
And in this old photograph, there's an extension on the right hand side which looks like a stable, but connects over to another building.
This particular extension is in considerably worse condition, but basically, the spot from which this picture was taken was once indoors, connecting the two buildings. It sure seems odd that this part of the building is structurally inadequate compared to the rest of the mill.
I say inadequate, but that's just me being polite. This thing has all the structural stability of a relationship on the Jeremy Kyle show.
Slipping inside the rest of the mill was fairly easy. Barely any actual doors remain on the ground floor. Allegedly, they were stolen.
There's an old fireplace in the corner, but curiously, the building has no chimney.
That's why this place was abandoned! The workers all went on strike because Santa couldn't bring them their presents. It all makes sense now!
To my delight, the remains of the water turbines are still here, even though they're now beyond use. It seems odd that the doors were stolen but not these.
I wonder if any of this could be put back to use.
I assume there was once a water wheel here maybe? I must admit, I don't know a great deal about mills.
Stairs lead upward, and they were remarkably sturdy for a building this derelict
This area would have been filled with machinery and workers once, but now almost everything has been taken away.
Here's the frontage of a fireplace, but it doesn't seem like it would fit over the one downstairs.
Nature's creeping in. In a few years this entire building could be overrun.
It's pretty cool that all this is still here.
More stairs go further up into the attic, but the floor is considerably less safe up there!
I'm no expert, but I think all these spots on the floor are bat droppings. How cool is that? Sadly I didn't get any pictures of bats, which is a shame. I did find bats on another adventure last year though...
Back downstairs, I made it to the other ground floor, which was across the water.
There's the remains of some stairs.
There used to be a sink here.
Here we are back at the river, and it's pretty obvious from here that the doorway over there has been partially bricked up. I assume that was done for safety purposes.
With the main building pretty empty, and concluded, I set my sights to another derelict building across the river.
It turned out that this was part of the mill too, and old photos do exist online, the best of which can be found in the Francis Frith collection.
I'm not even sure I'm allowed to post it, but I'm not claiming that this is mine, obviously. I'm posting it purely because it displays the old water wheel, in 1892 when this building actually looks new and cared for.
Today the building is a shadow of its former self.
It's just full of clutter.
Meanwhile, the surrounding park land is still there, and it's a shame to see this mill slowly rot away. For over half a century these buildings have sat here empty, and it's truly a testament to the architects at the time that they're not in worse condition. But they won't last. Sure, they've got a few more years left in them, but right now they're still just a little TLC away from being useful to someone. Hopefully that will happen.
That's all I got today. Next time I'll be in Shrewsbury with some more amazing views, and then I'm off to the Shropshire countryside to find another nuclear monitoring bunker! In the meantime, share the blog, Like my Facebook page, follow my Instagram, subscribe to my Youtube and follow my Twitter.
Thanks for reading!
Wot. No toilets?
ReplyDeleteAnother fantastic location.
ReplyDelete