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Cash boost to restore 300-year-old water mill

Carmelo Garcia
Local Democracy Reporting Service
Gloucester City Council A brick bridge with a shallow, still river running underneath it. The low bridge is overgrown with ivy and vegetation, and the bricks seem to be cracked and unstable. The surrounding woods are full of trees and bushes, and you can see a faint footpath in the top right corner. Gloucester City Council
The Sheriff's Mill was used to grind crops like wheat and corn and closed in the 1920s

The only surviving remains of a 300-year-old water mill are to be restored with an injection of new funding.

The Sheriff's Mill, off Abbeymead Avenue in Gloucester, was used to grind crops like wheat and corn but closed in the 1920s.

Parts of a footbridge and the mill leat, an artificial stream that once provided water to the mill pond, still exist on the Gloucester City Council-owned land.

The authority has received £6,600 from Enovert Community Trust to carry out repair works and install an information board.

The mill's name is thought to relate to it being once owned by the Sheriff of Gloucester.

The remains are believed to be 200 to 300 years old and are the only surviving remains of a watermill in Gloucester, as most have been demolished and redeveloped.

According to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, a mill has stood on the site since at least the 13th century.

'Exciting project'

Over the next few months, work will begin on clearing the site and removing any rubbish, along with preservation work to both the bridge and the mill leat.

A new interpretation board will tell the history of the site.

Abbeydale councillor and a former Sheriff of Gloucester, Andrew Gravells initiated the project in 2019 and has worked to see it come to fruition.

"It's a very exciting project, and it's taken an incredibly long time to get it to this stage," he said.

Andrew Gravells Andrew Gravells wearing light green chinos, a dark belt and a short-sleeved blue shirt. He has short white hair and is smiling at the camera, with his left arm in his trouser pocket. He is standing on a curved footpath beside overgrown bushes. Andrew Gravells
Mr Gravells hopes more can be done to excavate the site and see what else remains there

"I'm hoping the work now proposed will be just the beginning, and eventually we'll be able to do more excavation on this site to see what else is still there and make quite a feature of it.

"Having been a Sheriff of Gloucester myself, it's great to have this link here in Abbeymead going way back into our past, centuries ago, to previous sheriffs."

Planning cabinet member Sarah Sawyer said: "We're very fortunate to live in an area with such rich history and so many fascinating stories waiting to be uncovered and shared.

"I hope this conservation work helps bring the story of Sheriff's Mill to life for both residents and visitors."

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