Restoration work on Sacrewell Mill recognised

Sacrewell Mill near Wansford reopened last July after a 12 month project joint funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund and the William Scott Abbott Trust, which owns Sacrewell.

The mill project has been nominated in the building conservation and leisure and tourism categories of the East of England Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors Awards, which will take place in Bury St Edmunds on May 11.

If the mill is successful at regional level, it will be entered into the national awards later this year.

Mill project officer Jane Harrison says the nominations are a credit to the team who worked on the restoration. Cambridge architecture firm Purcell headed the project which was managed by The Clarkson Alliance and work was carried out by Tinwell firm, Messenger Construction.

Jane said: “It’s rare to be able to say that a project was finished on time and to budget which is testament to the hard work carried out by the team at Sacrewell Mill.

“Before funding was secured, Sacrewell Mill was on the ‘at risk’ register and the project could not have started at a better time. The work carried out needed expert knowledge, from the initial planning stages to on the spot decisions.”

As part of the project, the waterwheel was repaired thanks to the expertise of Lincolnshire firm Traditional Wheelwrights, the walls were secured and the Collyweston slate roof was removed, cleaned and restored.

The mill and mill house have been interpreted throughout to reflect Victorian and Second World War working conditions, using the testimonies of people who worked at the mill during both periods. And a hydro-electric water turbine has also been installed inside the stables.