Race to raise funding for historic mill near Olympic legacy park

 
“Plucky survivor”: trustees hope to restore the machinery at House Mill
Lindsay Watling6 February 2013

Campaigners fighting to restore an 18th-century tidal mill on the edge of the Olympic legacy park face a race against time to raise funding.

The House Mill is the largest of its kind in the world and has been described as a “plucky survivor of London’s industrial heritage”. In recent years it has been owned and maintained by the River Lea Tidal Mill Trust, which offers guided tours.

With grants from the Heritage Lottery Fund and English Heritage among others, the charity has embarked on an ambitious restoration programme to get the machinery working for the first time since the Second World War and make the building more accessible.

But the project has reached a standstill and could collapse if the trust fails to raise a further £500,000 towards costs in the next six months. This would help meet the match funding target required by HLF for a round two application to release £2.45 million.

Trustee Beverley Charters said: “It’s a very exciting project. However, it has suffered some tremendous misfortune, often coming second in competitive funding bids to much higher profile, well-known schemes. Everyone who visits the mill loves the building and the restoration project, including Prince Charles, but to date we haven’t been able to secure sufficient financial support.”

The Grade I-listed mill is on a man-made island on the river Lea, within the Three Mills Conservation Area. It is bounded by the boroughs of Newham and Tower Hamlets to the east and west, by the Olympic stadium to the north and Canary Wharf to the south.

The five floors of the House Mill are to be developed to improve visitor and education facilities and offer opportunities for demonstrations by crafts people. The trust also plans to open to visitors five days a week rather than on Sundays only.

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