The stone floor is the upper floor of the steam mill, where the millstones where located. It is a complex structure with four layers of planks, some bolted together. At some time in the past the original roof failed, wet rot and wood worm took hold and eventually part of the floor collapsed, leaving a large hole. As a result the floor had been designated off limits.
In the last quarter of 2014 two small areas of the floor were repaired by the volunteers with the support of ECC and a grant from Maldon District Council. This allowed us to go onto the floor with care. Over 2015 and 2016 an extensive survey of the floor structure was undertaken and a series of scale drawings produced. At first we tried to get a heritage building contractor interested in working with us to repair the floor. However, those we approached firstly expressed interest, then eventually stopped returning our calls.
In late 2016 further searching of the internet identified Dr Joe Bispham as a Historic Buildings Consultant, and even better one of our volunteers, Richard Rowsell, knew him. We made contact and Dr Bispham visited the mill and agreed to help us develop a plan. With his help we consulted Maldon District Council’s Heritage Planning officers and got agreement to repairing the floor subject to further consultation about the details.
In April 2017 volunteers from the Beeleigh Mill Restoration Group started to strip back the timbers of the Stone Floor to expose the main beams for inspection and ultimate repair by specialists in the field. Continue reading The Stone Floor Project Story