IMAGES TAKEN NEAR TO
Wingfield Close, SHREWSBURY, SY1 4BL

The Apprentice House as yet has seen little restoration work, although the main site was busy with tradesmen on the day of this visit. It was built around 1811/12 as accommodation for apprentices (mostly poor, orphaned or illegitimate children from the north of England, to be honest) at the flax mill, and received a Grade II* listing https://www.britishlistedbuildings.co.uk/101254855-ditherington-flax-mill-apprentice-house-shrewsbury#.WzCOuKdKhPY in 1987. The windows are boarded to prevent further damage & vandalism, and many of the door pediments have been removed for conservation purposes, pending restoration work.

This building at the north end of the site is Listed Grade II* and was built in 1811 with the superintendent's house at this end and the apprentices' house behind. This was the second apprentices' house. It is not known how many apprentices were housed but one book states - "but it is not inconceivable that well over a hundred children were sheltered there".

Under redevelopment into a complex of shops, apartments and offices. Viewed from a track near the railway line.

This view shows several key components of this important site that includes the world's first iron-framed fireproof building. The three storey building on the left is the superintendent's and apprentices' house that is Listed Grade II*. To its left is the flax warehouse that is Listed Grade I. The pyramidal roof above it is on the Grade II kiln that was installed during conversion from flax processing to malting. The red wooden 'Jubilee' tower with the crown on top also dates from the conversion and is on the north end of the main mill that is Grade I Listed. The long range to the right with advertising on the gable end is the Cross Mill (or building) that is also Grade I. I was very pleased to finally take myself over to see this significant complex. The newly opened display is also well worth a look.

Looking great.

This picture is dominated by the Grade I Listed flax warehouse of c1810. This is iron-framed of fireproof construction and with cast iron roof trusses.

Grade I listed https://www.britishlistedbuildings.co.uk/101428700-ditherington-flax-mill-cross-building-shrewsbury#.WzCST6dKhPY in 1987, the Cross Mill contained the 'heckling' machinery which separated flax into long fibres and short fibres in preparation for spinning further down the factory. It was built in 1812, and its Grade I listing status reflects its importance both nationally and internationally as one of the first buildings in the world to experiment with iron-framed construction techniques, without which many modern high-rise buildings would not exist. The bricked-up windows date from the period when the factory was used as a maltings.

The buildings in the Flax Mill complex include associated or ancillary buildings such as the apprentice house, the dye house, the flax dressing building, the flax warehouse, the stables, workshops and offices. The mill and all its buildings are on the Buildings at Risk Register. Today they are still very much a roost for colonies of pigeons.

The painted sign is on the gable end of Cross Mill. This was rebuilt in 1812 following a fire and is an iron-framed fireproof building used in the original flax mill and then adapted as part of the later maltings. it is Listed Grade I. Beyond it is the adapted former dyehouse that is Listed Grade II*.

This former malt kiln is Listed Grade II. It dates from the conversion of the former flax mill to a malting in 1896-7. To the left is the Grade I Listed warehouse and to the right is Cross Mill. The Mill complex is undergoing conservation and an exhibition has opened on the ground floor of the main block while space has also been given to offices and a cafe. Several of the buildings have still to be finished.