Help Out Mill

Help Out Mill, Heather Road, Shackerstone, Odstone

A water-powered corn mill with attached house and granary, dating from the early 19th century. The granary is dated 1912. The buildings are constructed in red brick with slate roofs and brick end stacks to the house.

The house forms the left portion of the complex and rises to three storeys. It has a regular front of three windows with glazing bar sashes set beneath wedge-shaped lintels and key blocks. A central door with fanlight sits within a round-arched recess. Inside, a plain staircase with cast iron balustrade stands immediately in front of the entrance.

The mill building occupies the centre-right, constructed in brick with a Welsh slate gable-end roof. It rises four storeys, the upper floor having been added in 1902 to accommodate newly installed machinery. The front elevation displays a symmetrical three-window range; all windows have flat arches (the originals retaining keyblocks) with 12 panes, except the first-floor centre window which has 20 panes. A former taking-in door to the second floor is now blocked. Above this door is a stone inscribed 'E.T.' (Elijah Timms), and beneath are inserted bricks inscribed 'TURBINE ERECTED / AUGUST 1902'.

The granary and engine house, positioned to the right and set well back, date mostly to 1902 though they incorporate some earlier work. Built in brick with Welsh slate roof, they rise four storeys with a two-window range. Windows on the ground, second and third floors are 18-pane lights under segmental arches, while the first floor has small roundels. A datestone at first-floor level reads 'E.T.T./1912'. The side elevation, facing the former Ashby and Nuneaton joint railway branch, features first-floor roundel windows, various openings, and a timber-clad gabled joist head to the top floor. A lean-to porch projects from the left side.

A detached office building stands to the rear.

The mill's significance lies principally in its machinery. The original water-wheel mechanism has been largely replaced by a water turbine installed in 1902, but its drive and gearing survive, as do two of the original three grinding stones. The exceptional feature is the survival of the complete 1902 roller-mill installation with all its fittings intact, a rarity when found alongside the earlier water-powered grinding system.

The roller mills, manufactured by E R and F Turner Ltd of Ipswich, occupy the first floor, where they are divided from the rear section containing the millstones by a timber-framed partition. The ground floor contains bases of five elevators with outlet ducts from the roller mills and inlets from the first-floor hopper, plus associated pulleys and belt drives. Seven sack-filling chutes survive, together with shaft and spur gearing from the water-powered system. The second floor holds grain hoppers, sack hoist flaps, six elevators and pulleys, and specialised machines associated with the roller mill operation including two centrifugal dressers and various scalpers and sifters. The third floor contains the tops of the elevators with access to the hoppers below, a roller mill air suction fan and extractor, and several other machines: four dressers of different types, an oat clipper and a cockle cylinder. An intermediate steam engine system from around 1860 has left only minor traces.

The complete survival of a roller mill with all its fittings in such a comprehensive state, particularly in association with the earliest system of water-powered grinding stones, is extremely rare. The machinery details are recorded in the Bulletin of the Leicestershire Industrial Society, No 6 (1983).