Cannock Mill
Cannock Mill House, Old Heath Road, Colchester, Essex, CO2 8AA
The original Cannock Mill belonged to St Botolph’s Priory in Colchester and by the early 15th Century was called Kennic, Canwick or Cannock Mill according to various sources. It was purchased and rebuilt in 1600 by Sir Thomas Lucas, a local landowner, and for the next two hundred years, it operated as both a corn mill and a fulling mill, the latter being especially useful in the preparation of woollen cloth for the military. Bankruptcy followed in 1819, but by 1824 the mill was back in business entirely as a corn mill.
The current building was completed in 1845 as an overshot mill fed by three iron pipes from an embanked pond and this worked successfully until the late 1940s when milling ceased and the building was used as a store for Cramphorns the seed merchants. By the early 1960s, the building had become so dilapidated that most of the fixtures and fittings were removed. In 1989 it was converted into a centre for Dolphin Aquatics, a company specialising in ponds and aquaria.
In 2014 the mill and adjacent land were bought by Cannock Mill Cohousing. This is a mutually supportive group of twenty-six households who live in self-contained homes built to 'Passivhaus' (low energy) standards. The old mill now has a new lease of life as the community 'Common House', the busy focal point of the cohousing community and sometimes other local organisations. Facilities includes kitchen, dining room, guest rooms and laundry.
Timings & Tours
- Sunday 08 September:
- 1300-1530
Location & directions
Cannock Mill House, Old Heath Road, Colchester, Essex, CO2 8AA
- Directions:
- Adjacent to Butterfly Barns Nursery.
Booking information
- Pre-booking requirement:
- Pre-booking not required
Additional information
There is no parking on site, but buses S1 and S9 are frequent and stop outside the Mill. If you have access difficulties please contact us via email: [email protected] We are a short walk from Bourne Mill, just follow the footpath from Bourne Mill via the Bourne Valley Nature Reserve. Tours will be every twenty minutes or so, depending on demand, and will include details of the many uses of the Mill since 1845 and some of the colourful characters associated with it, plus an explanation of its current use as a 'Common House'.
- Est. tour duration:
- 0 hour(s) 30 minute(s)
