Talk & Tour of Tellisford Mill
14th July 2007 2.30pm & 5pm Tellisford Mill Code: 1413/5
Author: Caroline Wood, Somerset Standard
A TALK and tour of Tellisford Mill, near Rode, was yet another sell-out for the Frome Festival.
As one of the more unusual events in the festival programme, a group of enthusiastic people squashed into a small tent to hear the fascinating story of the mill and its reincarnation.
The mill owners are Anthony Battersby and Rachel Feilden who bought the mill in 2002.
They are part of Mendip Power Group, made up of owners of seven historic mills along the River Frome who are aiming eventually to provide electricity to power more than 400 homes in the area.
Tellisford Mill is the group's first new installation to generate 300,000kWH of electricity a year, providing power for about 67 homes and cutting carbon dioxide emission by 100 tonnes annually.
Mr Battersby screened a video and slide show charting the couple's labour of love from the project in its early stages to the exciting moment when the turbine was switched on.
The official launch of the scheme was in April.
Tellisford Mill is mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086 and had been a corn mill.
By 1500 it was a fulling mill, removing grease from spun wool to serve the area's woollen industry and then a flock mill, recycling old clothes to make stuffing for mattresses.
Then, in 1895, the original three-storey building burnt down, was partially restored but finally closed in 1912 and remained a ruin until it was bought by the current owners.
By Caroline Wood, Somerset Standard reporter
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