Bringing places to life
The mill has a rich history and it's our job to try and convey this in a manner that best suits and respects the mill. The University of Essex students have been involved in the reinterpretation of the Mill as part of the recent Heritage Lottery Funded project 'Bourne Mill - Uncovering Colchester's Social and Industrial Past'.
There are many projects on the go all year round and luckily we have an ever-growing team of volunteers to help.
People, pleasure and patience
Our volunteer team are passionate about Bourne Mill and have researched various aspects of the Mill's history. Whilst some of the jigsaw is falling into place, there are still lots of gaps which we're still trying to fill. To improve our knowledge under the Heritage lottery Project we commissioned a historical report from
Dr. Chris Thornton and one exploring the role of food and entertainment in the Mill's history from
Ivan Day which are available on request.
Water wheel repairs
Due to factors such as the water wheel permanently sitting in water and culverts being too shallow, there are many repair jobs which take place every other year just to keep our waterwheel turning.
Stonework
This mosaic of different stones needs to be looked after in a particular way. Some methods in the past haven't been suitable, so some work is 'repair and restore' while other work requires us to 'conserve and preserve'.
Physic Garden
The growing volunteer garden team worked on creating a physic garden in 2015 to enhance the Mill frontage. Donations of plants came from all over and they developed a beautiful interpretation of the herbs and plants which would have acted as they medicine cabinet down the centuries. The research is ongoing and there are more plans for 2016.
