The future of Colchester’s 400 year old Bourne Mill is up for grabs, and your opinion counts.
Open to the public two days a week in the summer months, just 800 visitors a year get the chance to enjoy this historic property. The National Trust believes that much more can and should be done to give people access to this facility. A public consultation is being launched so the local community can have their say about how it could best be used.
Sarah Barfoot, Community Learning Officer at The National Trust, said:
'Since the Trust bought Bourne Mill back in 1936, we have struggled to know what to do with it. It is a beautiful, peaceful place in a lovely setting. It seems a shame that more people don’t enjoy it. I hope the public will take action and come up with some really good ideas.'
Bourne Mill has been used for many different things over the years, so a change of function to suit contemporary needs will not be out of character. It was built in 1591 originally as a fishing lodge (a party house really!), and has served time as a fulling mill, a cornmill and a house, as revealed by the recent historical report written by Dr Chris Thornton. The water-wheel is in working order, but the mill machinery was removed years ago.
Sarah continued:
'We certainly don’t intend to make any structural changes to the building, but whatever we do we want to improve public access and find a much better way to use this delightful building. We will come back later in the year with the range of suggestions and start to investigate the feasibility of the best ideas.'
Potential uses could include:
- An ‘energy discovery centre’ for schools to investigate alternative energy and energy conservation
- Craft workshop or artists studio
- Install new stones and grind corn again
Feed in your suggestions to Bourne Mill either by visiting on Tuesdays and Sundays in July and August. Alternatively you can email Bourne Mill or write to Bourne Mill, Bourne Road, Colchester, Essex CO2 8RT.
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