[W]ork is about to commence on a £1 million project to restore and re-interpret Eskdale Mill at Boot, thanks to a National Lottery grant and cash raised through Copeland Community Fund, Cumbria Fells and Dales European LEADER funding, Pilgrim Trust and other charitable trusts.
Eskdale Mill & Heritage Trust, a community-led charity, has managed the mill since buying it from Cumbria County Council in 2006, saving it from a possible sale for redevelopment for new uses. The Trust has been working for over four years to develop the restoration project and the funding bids, with the support of specialist consultants.
Eskdale Corn Mill is a Grade II* listed building and is the last operating water-powered mill in the Lake District National Park. Along with other buildings, such as a stable and cottage, it sits alongside a packhorse bridge in the picturesque village of Boot, in the beautiful Eskdale valley. It was noted as an important feature in the Lake District’s bid to achieve World Heritage Site status. It is, however, badly in need of repair and restoration, as might be expected from such an historic building dating back centuries, and the mill machinery is in sore need of some care and attention to keep it operating.
Eskdale Mill is a local visitor attraction, only ten minutes’ walk from the final station on the Ravenglass and Eskdale narrow-gauge steam railway line, which carries up to 100,000 passengers each year. The project will also improve the mill and surroundings for visitors, with better facilities and interpretation to provide more about the history of the mill and the people who have worked there. Educational visits by schools and other groups will also be encouraged and supported.
Volunteers have already been busy cataloguing all of the artefacts from inside the mill, which will be stored elsewhere while the work is going on, and will be returned to the restored mill as part of a new exhibition.
Work is expected to carry on until early next year, with plans to re-open the mill to visitors in Spring 2019.
Paul Pharaoh, Chair of Eskdale Mill & Heritage Trust, said “It has been a long haul to get to this stage, since we first contacted Heritage Lottery about possible funding in 2013. Thanks to a lot of effort by trustees, advisers and volunteers, supported by our team of consultants, and the backing of our funders, all the planning for the next stage in the mill’s long life is at last about to become reality. We hope everyone reading this will come to see for themselves when we re-open next year.”
Keith Hitchen, Chair of Copeland Community Fund, said “The Fund are delighted to have been able to provide the final funding necessary to enable work to start on the restoration of this historic mill. We see this as an important investment in Copeland’s local history and tourism offer.”
Funding has been contributed by the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF), from money raised through players of the National Lottery, of £842,200; from Copeland Community Fund of £92,953; Fells & Dales Leader of £35,993; Pilgrim Trust £15,000; Dulverton Trust (via Cumbria Community Foundation) £5,000; Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings £800; and North West Mills Group £500.
