Vale Mill to be covered in scaffolding for re-pointing
VALE Mill is moving a step closer to being turned into a home.
Scaffolding is currently being erected around the historic building to allow for re-pointing of the entire structure as the ambitious development project enters its next stage.
The mill, which is 21 metres high, will be entirely covered by scaffolding by the end of this month.
Wheeler Developments director James Ridout said the latest phase of the project involved redoing work carried out by the States about 20 years ago.
‘We need to encase the entire mill in order to make it wind-proof and watertight, which involves digging out and re-pointing all the joints that were put in by the States back in 2003,’ said Mr Ridout.
‘The scaffolding should be put up completely in three to four weeks, and from there I estimate it will take between six and seven months to finish the work on the mill.’
Due to the current condition of the pointing between the mill’s joints, Mr Ridout expected the cost of the project to be ‘astronomical’.
‘It’s going to be a mammoth task. We’re going in blind in a lot of ways as it’s not something we’ve ever done before.’
He said that it was necessary to turn the mill into a habitable condition before commencing work on other parts of the project, as part of the planning application approved in 2020.
Plans for the mid-19th century stone tower mill and quarry next door include an underground extension at the quarry face with a tunnel link to the mill.
Upon completion of the work on the mill, Mr Ridout said work would start on the underground link to the quarry.
‘We are going to construct a tunnel and box into the quarry face which overhangs the quarry.
‘They will become part of a large living area connecting the quarry and mill.’
Mr Ridout said the project was exciting for him and his company due to the complex nature of the work.
‘The different aspects of it are certainly very interesting. We’ve got work way up high in a tower, and then we move onto constructing an underground tunnel that will be overhanging into a quarry. It’ll be very difficult, but we’ve got to give it a go,’ he said.
