The Northern Echo : News, Sport, Business, Leisure from the North East and North Yorkshire

Cash boost for historic mill

From the archive, first published Monday 2nd Apr 2007.

AN 18TH Century mill has received a £100,000 boost to transform it into a leading heritage site.

The money for Wensleydale's Gayle Mill came from the Heritage Lottery Fund, Yorkshire Dales Millennium Trust and North Yorkshire County Council's Rural Targets Fund.

The Heritage Lottery Fund helped fund its £1m restoration along with English Heritage, Yorkshire Forward and local fundraisers.

The money will pay for a visitors' centre and education courses on site as well as workshops that will produce wood items to sell.

Gayle Mill was a runner-up in the BBC's Restoration series in 2004 and featured in its update programme last September.

Its appearance on the programme helped boost its profile and swelled the ranks of the Friends of Gayle Mill to more than 300.

The mill will be run by the Gayle Mill Trust, whose work is funded by the Friends of Gayle Mill and it is expected to open this spring.

The Grade II listed building was built in the 1780s as a water-powered cotton mill and also processed flax and wool. It was reborn as a sawmill in 1880 and is now a scheduled ancient monument.

It still has its original electrical generating system, wood working machinery and its Williamson turbine, which is reputedly the oldest working turbine of its kind.

The site now has a mobile sawmill, which will be used as part of a social enterprise service for local businesses and landowners.

William Lambert, vice-chair of the trust, said: "There has been a lot of hard work by local people and now we are on the home stretch. Within months Gayle Mill will once again take an active role in the life of our community."

William Hague MP, a long time supporter of the mill, said: "I am looking forward to seeing Gayle Mill restored to its original condition and am sure the benefits this will bring as both visitor attraction and training establishment will be immense."

Fiona Spiers, Herritage Lottery Fund manager for Yorkshire and the Humber, said: "This project will breathe new life into the mill and enable a whole new generation to experience our industrial heritage."