About the Mills Archive

The Mills Archive was established in 2002 as a permanent repository for historical and contemporary material on traditional mills and milling, and to make that material available for public inspection and use in research and learning. It has rescued over 1 million documents and images that might otherwise have ended up in a landfill site.

The Mills Archive is one of the world's great mill collections. It is an Aladdin's cave filled with memories, free to users and run by volunteers. The collections show the rich and diverse crafts, buildings, machinery, equipment and people involved with mills in the UK and around the world.

We believe in the cultural and educational values of traditional mills and wish to turn that into practical support. We extend a warm welcome to family, local, national and international historians, as well as to those who simply want to find out more about our milling heritage.

Governance

The Archive is managed by the Mills Archive Trust. More information.

The need for an archive

The Mills Archive is a centralised archive and library that allows users to store and retrieve information and records about traditional mills and milling. It was set up in response to an expressed need to preserve and where possible integrate the various threatened sources of information on the windmills and watermills of the UK and the rest of the world. More information.

Our policies

The Mills Archive focuses on but is not wholly restricted to traditional mills and milling and the uses of natural power. We shall seek and acquire relevant historical and contemporary material and small artefacts. More information.

Our collections

The Mills Archive was originally set up to care for four historically important Foundation Collections. Two of these are still in private hands, but the other two have now been donated to us by their former owners. Since our foundation we have been given many more important collections. More information.

Our projects

Since the Mills Archive was founded, and with the help of the Heritage Lottery Fund, we have successfully completed a number of major projects. More information.
 

Collaborating institutions

The Mills Archive works with a number of regional mills groups and with other national and regional archives and mill-related bodies to share information and further the study of our milling history. More information.