These buildings are now an industrial museum. They were built between 1823 and 1825, and equipped with two waterwheels to provide power. The weir is at the bottom left of the shot to create a head of water to drive the waterwheels. The water enters the mill through the two grills at tne lower centre and right of the shot.
It's hard now to imagine that waterwheels could provide enough power to drive the machinery in a building of this size, but for much of it's life water was the only source of power. (Later, supplementary power was provided by diesel engine).It's even more amazing to think that this water driven factory was still in production until 1976.
There is something almost magnetic about these former industrial buildings - their shape, and the purposes they fulfilled. Thank you for sharing and the history and explanation of the workings, Ian. Fav.
Thank you all for your generous comments and favs, which put this shot on the Trending and Popular pages!
An interesting bit of information about the weir is that the river here was used in an episode of the TV series 'A Touch of Frost' - a body was supposedly dragged from the river here, and there was another investigation for DI Frost!
Thank you all for your generous comments and favs, which put this shot on the Trending and Popular pages!
An interesting bit of information about the weir is that the river here was used in an episode of the TV series 'A Touch of Frost' - a body was supposedly dragged from the river here, and there was another investigation for DI Frost!
Ian