Blue Flower

There were 5 people on site plus the first of the Heritage Open Day visitors. The 3 visitors were shown round the site and the visual aids which showed how the mill worked were explained. There will also be guided tours on Friday 11/9/15 and Saturday 12/9/15.

Graham explained the winterising protection plan to the volunteers to show how it should be implemented. It was agreed that volunteers have some discretion about the final methods of protection, particularly regarding the more difficult areas such as the hammer mill base. The elevator will be cemented into its pit after being cleaned.

The first task today was preparing the site for visitors which involved removing the ladder to the wheel pit and the bridge over the trench, these were used by the steel contactors earlier in the week. We also tidied up scaffold poles and moved the temporary fence so the furnace area could be viewed, the elevator was uncovered and the water wheel bearings were oiled.

The last sections of steel have been replaced on the water wheel and the bearing caps have been fitted. We went down onto the scaffolding around the wheel for a closer look at the steelwork, a grass snake crossed the river and we watched it swim along the length of the wall.

Two small areas within the brick floor of the main building filled with earth were dug out and this revealed wood on top of solid bases, possibly machine mountings.

The metal detector was used near the recently uncovered brick floor at the upstream end of the building and finds included some nails, hinge post, coprolite, and various pieces of metal. Then the machinery area in front of the wheel was scanned and a large washer with keyway was found, a hinge post, plus large pieces of casting which could be from the gear wheel on the main shaft. The main trench was then scanned along its full length revealing a large bracket with bolt attached, bolt, bolt head, and towards the furnace end were large lumps of molten metal and slag.

Saturday finds included a pottery jar which had been cut across, large piece of curved casting, 2 pieces of leather belt (possibly control belt for the governor, horse tack or drive belt), door latch, hook nail and a piece of drain pipe. 

At the end of the day we looked at the tunnel by the blacksmith’s area which has a large pile of earth inside. We only have until the end of September to work in this area as it is likely that bats will roost in the tunnels. I showed everyone the flyers I made and it was agreed to put them up around the village to try to get more volunteers. Finally the site was checked to ensure it is ready for the next guided tours.

Graham Bartlett              Interactive Plan         Volunteer         Previous      Next

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  • FlyerBonemill
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