Gunns Mill
Visit to Gunn's Mill
SPAB Gloucestershire
£5 per person. Additional donations to the Mill on the day are very welcome.
Event details
Saturday 20 May 2023, starting at 2.30 pm
Gunn’s Mill is important as it is probably the oldest and most complete surviving early-period charcoal blast furnace in the UK and therefore Western Europe. It is a Scheduled Ancient Monument and is Grade II* listed. Many of the original features of the building survive largely intact.
The site, which has been used for a variety of industrial uses since Medieval times, consists of the blast furnace rebuilt in 1682-83, the large water wheel pit and other structures, some modified by the conversion to a paper mill in the 1740s. A striking feature is the high, half-timbered drying loft for paper. It extends along the length of the furnace structure and includes the former charging house of the furnace for which timber was felled in 1681. Dendro-dating of the oak timbers has increased the historic value of the site from important to unique.
After 2000, Gunns Mill Furnace was shored up with scaffolding and shrouded in weatherproof plastic to slow the rate of deterioration. In 2013 the site was donated to the Forest of Dean Buildings Preservation Trust by Mr William Parker who purchased it a decade earlier to prevent its loss due to redevelopment. Repair work is ongoing as and when funding becomes available, in 2020-21 the precarious north wall was dismantled and re-built and preparations for the 2023 phase of repair have commenced.
NB: Visitors must wear boots or stout walking shoes as it may be an active building site at the time of the visit, other PPE will be provided. No dogs are allowed on site and there is no toilet.
The cost of the visit is £5, further donations welcome. There is parking on site. Visitors are shown around in groups of 10 for safety reasons. Whilst waiting people can hear about the mill and ask questions.
Multiple bookings
As long as there is space on the event, we usually allow you to book for both yourself and a guest. When completing the booking form, you will be asked to select the number of people and put in your own details on the first page, then to put in your second person's details on the next page. The event fee shown on each of these pages is for the individual person - you will be shown the total amount due once you get to the summary page.
About the Gloucestershire Regional Group
Lynne Pardoe, Group Organiser, says "It was ten years ago when I came to live in Gloucestershire and, surprised by the absence of a SPAB group, I started one. Since then its gone from strength to strength, with a steady core of regular attenders and an ever changing background of newer members. Since I don’t work in the field of conservation I rely on suggestions to arrange visits which don’t usually open for the public and thankfully, because I’ve been running it so long people know me and will make suggestions, or offer up their own properties for a visit. I love this."
Accessibility: please contact the Group Organiser before booking to discuss any special access requirements.
Image credit: Forest of Dean Preservation Trust