# Bourton Mill, Dorset



## QueerBait90 (Jun 3, 2015)

Hello again all. Today i bring you Bourton Mill, in Bourton, Dorset.
I had never even heard of this place until a couple of weeks ago when i was searching for somewhere local to explore, and found this little gem only 20 minutes away from me. So that same day off we went! First a little history.

Bourton Mill was processing flax for the linen industry during the 1800’s and supplying sailcloth to the British and Russian navies at that time. In 1811, when 159 families were recorded as living in Bourton, three-quarters of the village’s population was involved in the weaving of linen. 
Three waterwheels were operating on the site and the largest, at 60 feet in diameter, was reputed to be the largest in England.
However, linen manufacture at Bourton Mill declined due to fierce competition from factories in the north of England. In the 1860’s the foundry was taken over by E S Hindley & Son. The Post Office Directory of 1875 records that Edmund Samuel Hindley was an ‘engineer, millwright, iron founder, boiler and agricultural implement manufacturer’. The company’s diverse range of products, which also included steam lorries, were exported throughout the world. At one time, around 200 people were employed at the factory.
During the First World War the premises became a munitions factory where more than three million Mills bombs (hand grenades) were made between 1914 and 1918. When Gasper dam upriver on the Stour burst in June 1917, the foundry was severely flooded and machinery damaged. The foundry ceased to operate in the late 1920s when the company was purchased by Alfred Dodman & Co and the manufacturing base was transferred to King’s Lynn. Six years later the premises became a processing plant for milk products under various owners, including United Dairies, until 1998 when the factory shut. The now derelict mill and foundry buildings are owned by a developer who proposes to build a number of houses on the site.

If you do go and visit this site just BE CAREFUL, you can get onto a few of the roofs but they don't look very stable and there is a massive drop if they do collapse. Also at one point I looked up to see a huge bit of the bulding leaning over my head ready to fall at any moment. So please be sensible if you do visit and dont go alone, also a torch came in handy.
On with the pictures. 


The front of the building, we thought we were going to have a hard time finding it. With a bit of logic we found the road it was on, then we couldn't miss it.









We were a little put off by all the fencing but we snuck around the back and just like that we were in. We didnt even have to hop any fences. We could have so easily climed on this roof but i have no doubt that it would have collapsed in less than a second, that's why I say be careful.



We found another roof though, one that looked a lot more stable, and climed on up. From here we were able to see into the factory for the first time through a great big hole in the roof.





We wandered around the corner a bit and found the old boiler room. Sorry i didnt get a better picture. We could have climed down some stairs so we were stood under the boilers but the floor didnt look very safe so we didn't bother.



At this point we could hear a lot of noises coming from the building, but just banging so we put it down to birds and other animals and moved on. As we walked round though we could hear a dragging noise, I was convinced there was some drug addict in there moving stuff around! So we carried on as quietly as we possibly could. We came accross the little lake and where the water enters the factory. I can compleatly see how the factory flooded during WW1, the lake looked like it was ready to burst its banks and when we went the weather had been really nice.





Just around the corner we found a huge room that was obviously once two levels. It was filled with all sorts, we saw a tyre, a bed, and a cot amoungst the junk. This part of the building was right next to the road so i think it must have been put there by fly tippers before they put a fence up. Either way there was no way were were getting in there and i still don't know how this room connects to the rest of the building.



Then finally we found a way into the main building, we were still on edge from the dragging sound and i was still sure there was someone in there. We stood and silently looked around, got a few good pics then we heard the dragging noise, louder than ever before. Me and my buddy took one look at each other then sprinted out the way we came in! 







We walked back the way we came and found a doorway with a ladder leading down about 20ft into a huge open room with a lot of random junk in it. We stood for a minute to figure out if the ladder was safe and get up the courage to climb down, when we heard the dragging sound again and we finally realised that it was just corrigated plastic blowing in the wind!



 

From here we were able to see inside the whole factory. There were a few dark areas we didn't fully explore, and unfortunatly it looks like the water wheels are no longer there. As we walked around we could hear the water from the lake rushing under the factory, but we couldn't work out where it went. The sheer size of this place is really impressive though.

























The metal theives have obviously been in stealing the copper wires.



We climbed back up the ladder and walked back to the road to explore the front entrances.







There was some pretty cool retro vending machines.







All the entrances from the front of the building lead to a lot of small rooms, we guess these use to be the offices. You can get to the main factory from them too.











We found the locker room too, this was probably the only room that you can still tell what it used to be.



I had read online before i went that this place was pretty derilict, but it was way worse than i ever expected. The amount of grafitti was pretty overwelming and it quite dissapointing that you can no longer tell what the rooms would have been used for. The only thing we found that suggested anything about its history was a few huge plastic containers, we think the dried milk must have been kept in them. It was a fun way to spend a bank holiday but i would only recomend checking it out if you're local anyway, its not really worth traveling long distances for. Sorry about the amount of pictures. Thanks for reading.


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## krela (Jun 3, 2015)

Wow that's even worse than I remember it. Great write up though, thank you.


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## gingrove (Jun 4, 2015)

8p for a cup of coffee! that dates it. Thanks for posting


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## UrbanX (Jun 4, 2015)

Great stuff, lovely light in there. 
Don't blame you with the roofs, only a couple of weeks ago someone went through a mill and died. 
Great pics, cheers for sharing


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## flyboys90 (Jun 5, 2015)

Brilliant report, shame it's so trashed but still an interesting site.


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## TheNarrator (Jun 5, 2015)

Great report!
I really like having something to read about between the photos


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## Jgrimes (Sep 20, 2015)

Great place was where I started a lot of my graffiti art. Only half a mile away from me. When I was 17 unfortunately I feel thru that old sky light hole in the roof around the back. 25ft later broken wrist and split my kneecap straight in half. Was a long recovery, but lucky to be alive.


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## Sam Haltin (Sep 20, 2015)

Nice post and thanks for taking the risk to capture these photos. It seems that the graffiti artists have used every bit of white to do their artwork.


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