Frank Gregory Online

The Frank Gregory Online project has protected tens of thousands of important archival records relating to our milling heritage, enabling them to be used by the public. The value of individual archive records has been enhanced by setting them in their historical and geographical context on our website catalogue, Mills Archive Online.

• To browse the collection, click here.
• To access the information you first need to register and make sure you are logged in.

Frank W. Gregory (1917-1998) was the leading expert on the mills of the south of England. His remarkable collection, which forms the basis of the project, was left to the Weald and Downland Open Air Museum on his death. His collection contains the only records in existence of many traditional mills which have gone forever.

This collaborative project was led by the Mills Archive, supported by a generous grant of £49,900 from the Heritage Lottery Fund. Our project partners were expert members of the Sussex Mills Group, the Friends of the Mills Archive and the Museum. All three groups provided further funds to ensure the project was a success.

We thank the many volunteers who organised, listed, scanned and catalogued thousands of items over three years. Those volunteers with archiving skills and others with mill expertise worked side by side to enable the identification and indexing of hundreds of unlabelled historic images. A selection appear on these pages.

A selection of still unidentified material is available here. Why not test your identification skills, helping us and other users in the process?

Special features of the FGOL Project (right column of this page)

• A full biography of Frank Gregory has been prepared by one of the Mills Archive's volunteers using material from the collection.
• Use the links to find out about the mill restoration projects that Frank was involved with.