Beoley Paper Mill

A paper mill, now a warehouse, situated on an earlier site, with core elements dating back to the 17th century. The mill was extensively remodelled in the late 18th century, with further alterations and additions in the mid-19th and mid-20th centuries. The building is a mix of brick construction with corrugated iron cladding and timber-framed sections with brick infill and replacement walling, all topped by plain and machine-tiled hipped and gabled roofs. The main block is a T-plan layout, with a four-bay range running east to west. An overshot water wheel originally stood at the west end, where it joined a two-bay intersecting cross-wing that is lower in height. The building has two levels. The main south elevation features three large and one small ground floor windows with cambered heads, four first-floor windows, and two doors, one with a shuttered transom and one with a cambered head. An elliptical archway originally housed the water wheel, with a square opening positioned above it. The cross-wing’s gable end has a large doorway with a cambered head and three loft doors, two of which have blue brick sills. The east gable end exhibits a truncated collar and tie-beam truss with two collars, three struts to the lower collar, and two raking struts to the upper collar. A large timber-framed wing, approximately six bays wide, adjoins the west side of the cross-wing. At the west gable end of this wing, a collar and tie-beam truss remains. The south elevation has five square openings and one rectangular opening at ground floor level, with surviving panels in the upper row that are either open or blocked with wood boarding; there are also three doors. A large corrugated iron lean-to addition extends from the two easternmost bays. The interior was not inspected. A large, gabled addition from the 19th century adjoins the timber-framed section at the rear. It is believed that the mill site was established by monks from Bordesley Abbey, approximately half a mile away. From the late 18th century until around 1940, the mill specialized in producing "blue" (purple) needle wrapping papers, reportedly developed by Moorish craftsmen and introduced to the area around 1560 by Huguenots. Various paper types were produced after 1940, with production ceasing altogether in 1951.