Bere Mill is an ancient mill, found in Domesday. The 18th century buildings were destroyed by fire in 2018. The talk will concentrate on how the rebuilding was undertaken, placing the mill in its historic context. The renovation won National awards.
Bere Mill to the east of Whitchurch is an ancient mill site recorded in Domesday. A number of mills have stood there over the years: most recently a mill built in 1708 which was rented to the Portal family who used it to make cloth based paper. Portals built the worlds leading bank note supplier from this humble base. The original property changed little over the years and was converted to residential use in the 1990s. It was then destroyed by fire in February 2018.
The loss has been followed by a careful and thorough reconstruction. The current owners will describe how they dealt with disaster in restoring the mill complex to its original form with traditional materials and building methods; as also the restoring of their collections of furniture, books, pictures, and jewellery.
The talk will describe the regulatory framework (Planning and insurance) and where it worked and failed… but will largely focus on the skill and craft base in the community and how these resources were mobilised to help in this multitask effort. The tone will be celebratory of the wonderful skills that exist in British society and which are too rarely called upon in use!
Event times
Thursday 12 September: 14:00
Booking information
Pre-booking: Preferred.
Booking opens: 15 Jul 2024
Additional information
Max 100 people per tour. 2 hours.
The event will comprise a talk by the owner who undertook the reconstruction plus a tour of the building. Within the 2 hours there will be a 40 minutes lecture, 30 minutes inspection of works, 50 minutes tea and refreshments and garden visit.
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Header Image: Bere Mill_credit Rupert Nabarro