History
The mills were proposed by Joseph Rank, the founder of Rank Hovis McDougall on some of the 200 acres of reclaimed land, set aside by Southampton Railways for industrial development. When the building was completed in October 1934 it was the most modern flour mill in the country.
Old photos of the mill dating from 1934, before the construction of the second silo
The buildings suffered considerable damage on the night of 30th November 1941, the worst night of the Blitz in Southampton, with the flour mill and warehouse being completely destroyed.
Two aerial views of the mill dating from 1947, showing the bomb-damaged sections and the silos before reconstruction of the destroyed areas. Only the eastern section of the building was damaged during the raid, the wheat storage silos and a flaking mill were undamaged and are intact today. The front of the building was rebuilt after the war and the mill was back in full operation by 1950.
The flour mills were remodelled internally in 1990 to their current layout. In august 2014 a fire broke out in the roller mills on the second floor, but the building was saved due to the in-built sprinkler system. At the beginning of October 2018, Hovis announced plans to close the mill by the end of the year.
The explore
I first became aware of the building early last year when casually looking for stuff on Google Maps and it looked capable of holding epic. After seeing that Hovis were planning to close the mill at the end of the year I couldn't wait to visit. However when I researched the building a few months later I couldn't find any information confirming the buildings closure. I wanted to revisit Fawley for the fifth time to see how demo was progressing and knew I had to try this place beforehand. Visited with @jsp77 and prettyvacant71. First impressions of the building were positive with only a couple of cars outside and no signs of activity and when we made it inside it became obvious that closure had taken place with many of the offices empty and the covers removed from the roller mills. Internally the building can be a challenge to navigate and although we spent over 8 hours inside, we still must have missed a few parts and didn't get any sleep that night.
The Warehouse
Mather & Platt fire doors dating from the time of reconstruction after bomb damage
Seals Floor (Level 5)
This was the top level of the mill building
G Mill seals floor
F Mill seals floor
Sifter Floor (Level 4)
Purifier Floor (Level 3)
Spouts Floor (Level 2)
F Mill spouts floor
E Mill spouts
G Mill spouts
The mills were proposed by Joseph Rank, the founder of Rank Hovis McDougall on some of the 200 acres of reclaimed land, set aside by Southampton Railways for industrial development. When the building was completed in October 1934 it was the most modern flour mill in the country.
Old photos of the mill dating from 1934, before the construction of the second silo
The buildings suffered considerable damage on the night of 30th November 1941, the worst night of the Blitz in Southampton, with the flour mill and warehouse being completely destroyed.
Two aerial views of the mill dating from 1947, showing the bomb-damaged sections and the silos before reconstruction of the destroyed areas. Only the eastern section of the building was damaged during the raid, the wheat storage silos and a flaking mill were undamaged and are intact today. The front of the building was rebuilt after the war and the mill was back in full operation by 1950.
The flour mills were remodelled internally in 1990 to their current layout. In august 2014 a fire broke out in the roller mills on the second floor, but the building was saved due to the in-built sprinkler system. At the beginning of October 2018, Hovis announced plans to close the mill by the end of the year.
The explore
I first became aware of the building early last year when casually looking for stuff on Google Maps and it looked capable of holding epic. After seeing that Hovis were planning to close the mill at the end of the year I couldn't wait to visit. However when I researched the building a few months later I couldn't find any information confirming the buildings closure. I wanted to revisit Fawley for the fifth time to see how demo was progressing and knew I had to try this place beforehand. Visited with @jsp77 and prettyvacant71. First impressions of the building were positive with only a couple of cars outside and no signs of activity and when we made it inside it became obvious that closure had taken place with many of the offices empty and the covers removed from the roller mills. Internally the building can be a challenge to navigate and although we spent over 8 hours inside, we still must have missed a few parts and didn't get any sleep that night.
The Warehouse
Mather & Platt fire doors dating from the time of reconstruction after bomb damage
Seals Floor (Level 5)
This was the top level of the mill building
G Mill seals floor
F Mill seals floor
Sifter Floor (Level 4)
Purifier Floor (Level 3)
Spouts Floor (Level 2)
F Mill spouts floor
E Mill spouts
G Mill spouts
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