Willsbridge Mill

Image: © Neil Owen Taken: 27 Mar 2017

This magnificent mill stands on the Siston Brook. It was founded in 1712 and built from locally quarried Pennant Sandstone. A John Pearsall set up mills for rolling iron, especially for hoop iron. This worked well until the iron was used to make a roof of a London Docks building in 1811; it collapsed and so the mill was forced to change. By the early 1800s it was in the hands of the appropriately named Mills family, who converted it to flour production. One Alfred Parsons Bull took over the mill in the 1940s, this time grinding animal fodder. However, the ever-flowing Siston Brook turned into a hugely damaging torrent in the Great Flood of July, 1968. A fallen tree became a battering ram that broke the dam, causing massive damage. The mill could not be repaired and closed thereafter. Today, the mill is an education centre, run and maintained by the Avon Wildlife Trust.

Images are licensed for reuse under creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0