The Old Mill Project Volunteer Group c/o Jesmond Dene Rangers, Millfield House, Red Walk, Jesmond Dene, Newcastle NE7 7BQ
We
(Friends of Jesmond Dene, Volunteer Ranger Group) are in the process of applying
for a grant (up to £25 000) to do some work on the Old Mill. This work will
include cleaning up the site (graffiti, weeds to be cleared), making it more
accessible to the public (eg improved viewing area, improved access to the
building for wheelchairs), and better information for visitors (eg
Interpretation boards explaining the mill's history etc).
We are still working on this (getting work estimates etc) and hope to make this application in the next 4-6 weeks, after which it will take up to 12 weeks for us to hear the response from the Heritage Lottery organisation. (Incidentally, this grant is separate and independent of the much larger grant for the whole of the Dene that the City is applying for).
September brought the hoped for news that the grant application to the lottery had been successful with the award of £24,447 for the Old Mill project. The focus for the following months has been on three areas - getting the weeds cleared, working on the research needed for the archaeology and beginning ‘final approval’ processes for working on improvements for visitors to the mill.
A large group of volunteers went to work on the weeds in December – and many barrow loads later we had made a big change to the appearance of the mill. It meant that for the first time in years we could see clearly many of the features that had become overgrown, and also allowed us to move around more safely. It also made it possible to plan the machinery moves – mill parts are scattered around the main room of the mill and these need to be moved to allow the archaeological practical work to go ahead.
Several major tasks began in support of the Desk Top Survey which will analyse the site and record how the buildings had changed over the years and in addition help decide where to focus the evaluation trenches for the next phase.
The photographs had highly specific requirements. Digital cameras were not considered suitable for the long-term archive copies required, complete with negatives and several sets of prints. Luckily a volunteer was available with a quality SLR camera and a variety of lenses, so no problems there. It took several visits to the mill to complete this job, since weather and lighting were important in getting suitable shots. The 70-80 photos we needed also required documenting with a location map and a fully indexed description.
The archive research also needed several days work to trawl through the hundreds of years of historical records held at the various regional centres – the current mill is probably 18th Century, but it is likely mills have been on the site since as early as the 13th Century and the archaeologists need to have some idea of what to expect before any digging starts.
The final area we have been working on is getting detailed planning consent for the improvements to the mill site for visitors. Although we now have the grant to fund the work, plus the English Heritage consent to carry out the work, these alone are not sufficient. Listed Building consents commonly come with stringent additional conditions attached. We therefore needed to produce yet more details of our planned improvements, with large scale drawings and full lists of materials, to obtain further written consent regarding these conditions. These have now been submitted to the Newcastle City Planning Department and we are awaiting their go ahead.
Progress so far this year has seen the Mill site cleaned up with the weeds and overgrown vegetation cleared. The pathway into the Mill complex has also been improved. Volunteers have carried out extensive research in local archives on the history of the Mill and an archaeological investigation of the site has been completed. A scale model of the Mill as it used to look in the early 1800s has been produced by George Ritzema and is on display in the Millfield House Visitor Information Room. It will be joined by a secondary not-to-scale working model, to illustrate how the power was transferred from water to machines.
Over the next few months the Mill project will be completed by providing information boards at the Mill site and brochures at Millfield House. In addition, local schools are being given free CDs to help and encourage them to introduce the Mill into their teaching of the National Curriculum (History, Geography, Science, Art etc). Finally, the redesign and renewal of safety fences at the Mill will allow visitors improved access.
In September 2006 the main part of the original project was successfully completed and a launch held at Millfield House. Project sponsors, contractors, supporters and volunteers were invited to an exhibition showing the scope of the project. To mark the occasion, Sue Stokel-Walker of Newcastle Parks and Countryside Service was invited to unveil a scale model of the mill. Still outstanding from the main project is the printing of information brochures. When these are ready members of FOJD will receive a copy.
In December the volunteers received the go-ahead from the Heritage Lottery to reallocate some unspent money. As a result of this some significant additions have been made, including the following :-
Rebuilding a set of steps at the mill which had fallen into a serious state of disrepair. Work by contractors was completed in mid-January and the new steps are a great improvement – both visually and for ease-of-use.
Acquision of a touch-screen computer for use in the Visitor Information Centre.
Acquision of a quern to be used in practical milling demonstrations at Millfield House so schoolchildren (and adults!) will be able to understand more vividly how labour intensive flour milling was before watermills were developed.
NB the volunteer website, kindly sponsored by Newcastle University, can be found at www.jesmonddeneoldmill.org.uk where in addition to information about mills and milling, there are regular updates about the work of the volunteers and events happening in Jesmond Dene.