There’s an old mill by the stream…and in Marlborough too, there were once five of them on the Kennet grinding corn but with one solitary survivor, last used in 1926, remaining.
Then its upper floors were later destroyed by fire and the site of the Town Mill opposite Kennet Place redeveloped for housing in the 1980s. But at least one piece of salvaged rusting mill machinery remains intact.
And Marlborough town council want to display it as a relic of the town’s history and as a fascinating tourist attraction from the past.
However, as members of its Amenities and Open Spaces Committee have discovered, there are problems galore to be tackled before the wheels of the project can flower into success.
The major one is a suitable site. Eyes have been fixed on the piece of ground alongside the mill race in Kennet Place where a huge willow grows, which the records show is a piece of waste nobody actually owns.
It is not recorded by the Land Registry and the council’s bid to possess it has been turned down by the Registry under its rules. Moreover, it could take up to 12 years to comply with the red tape.
The council could take over the river bank anyway, lay down turf or seed it over, possibly remove the willow tree too, but no clear-up work can be legally undertaken on land not legitimately owned by the council.
And even if that did go ahead, another difficulty arises – the question of public liability insurance while, a serious factor that remains as other alternatives lurk in the background.
One is to display the mill machinery on the George Lane car park area earmarked for a new cinema project or to find a suitable space in nearby Coopers Meadow.
“This has been a baby of mine for some while,” Councillor Bryan Castle, newly-elected chairman of the council’s Amenities and Open Spaces Committee, told councillors. “Something will happen out there.
“The problem is the willow tree, which has been coppiced. It is so large that it has a significant root system underground. And if you look at the river wall you can see they might break up that wall.”
A structural engineer called in by Councillor Castle estimated it would cost £800 to design and carry out the necessary tree work but there is no known estimate as yet of the cost of preparing a display of the mill machinery, even if the tree was not removed.
The £800 is already in the committee’s budget together with £600 for initial work on the project.
“The final costings have yet to be agreed,” admitted Councillor Castle. “But we fill find the money. There are other sources we can go to.
“And if necessary we could take it from our reserves. This is our heritage.”
Town Clerk Shelley Parker pointed out that the council could put what’s called a “caution” on the site but it would take years before the council might gain possession.
And while applauding the project, Marlborough’s new mayor, Councillor Guy Loosmore, warned that the council could not expose itself to insurance claims should someone fall and hit their head on the machinery.
But Councillor Castle still insisted: “I would prefer the machinery to go where it came from, not on some other site.”
The committee has decided to seek the advice of its own solicitors and insurers before making a final decision – “so that least we have a sense that the project is ongoing,” said Councillor Castle.
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