Three Mills

On the second day of this year's London Open House weekend, we visited Three Mills on the River Lea next to Bromley-by-Bow in London.

Three Mills Island is a man made island in the River Lea on which were built (guess what?) three mills. Two of them are tidal mills; the third (which no longer exists) was a windmill. The area was known for milling grain for bread for centuries before these mills were constructed.

The building on the left in this photograph is House Mill, the UK's oldest and largest tidal mill (their web site suggests it is the oldest and largest in the world). It is a Grade 1 listed 5-storey, timber-framed, brick-clad watermill with four waterwheels, originally built 1776 to mill grain for the distillery trade and it was operational until 1940.  The building in the centre (to the right of the mill) is the Miller's house, reconstructed after bomb damage in the second World War.  The building on the right is the Grade II listed Clock Mill which also housed the distillery and is now part of 3 Mills Film Studios.

An enjoyable and worthwhile visit on a lovely sunny afternoon.  We have now visited several interesting industrial sites along the River Lea and are beginning to link them together.  I look forward to Open House next year: it allows me to see places that I might otherwise never be aware of.