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How we got started
Update November 2005
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Latest News
Location: Newcastle Upon Tyne
This is where you can find the latest news about the Old Mill Project
LAST UPDATED : January 2006
The focus for this period has been on three areas - getting the weeds cleared, working on the photographs and historical research needed for the archaeology, and beginning ‘final approval’ processes for working on improved approaches and viewing arrangements for visitors to the mill.
Weeds
A large group of Volunteers went to work on the weeds – and many barrow loads later we had made a big change to the appearance of the mill. It meant that for the first time in years we could see clearly many of the features that had become overgrown, and also allowed us to move around more safely without being trapped in huge lengths of brambles (see the ‘before’ and ‘after’ photos). It also made it possible to plan the machinery moves – mill parts are scattered around the main room of the mill and these need to be moved to allow the archaeological practical work to go ahead.
Archaeology
Several major tasks began in support of the Desk Top Survey which will analyse the site, how the buildings had changed over the years and its history and help in deciding where to focus the evaluation trenches to be dug in the next phase.
The photographs had highly specific requirements. Digital cameras were not considered suitable for the long-term archive copies required, complete with negatives and several sets of prints. Luckily a Volunteer was available with a quality SLR camera and lots of wide angle and telephoto lenses, so no problems there. It took several visits to the mill to complete this job, since weather and lighting were important in getting suitable shots. The 70-80 photos we needed also required documenting with a location map and a fully indexed description – otherwise one shot of stonework in close-up can look like several others to the non-expert.
The archive research also needed several days work to trawl through the hundreds of years of historical records held at the various regional centres – the current mill is probably 18th Century, but it is likely mills have been on the site since as early as the 13th Century and the archaeologists need to have some idea of what to expect before any digging starts.
Improvement Work
The final area we have been working on is getting detailed planning consent for the improvements to the mill site for visitors. Although we now have the grant which will fund the work, plus the English Heritage consent to carrying out the work, these are not sufficient. Listed Building consents commonly come with stringent additional conditions attached. We therefore needed to produce yet more details of our planned improvements, with large scale drawings and full lists of materials, to obtain further written consent regarding these conditions. These have now been submitted to the Newcastle City Planning Department and we are awaiting their go ahead.
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