Mills Archive Trust

Founded in 2002, the Trust is a registered educational charity (1155828) and an accredited archive service. The Trust protects, preserves and promotes milling history for people to learn from and enjoy. It is working to create a world in which the role of milling and all its contributors – from ancient times and up to present day – are understood, valued and recognised as integral to people’s histories and lives today. The Mills Archive is the world’s only dedicated repository for the history of mills, milling and millers, across the centuries and around the world. Its team cares for an archive of some three million records and a dedicated library with more than 5,000 books and journals.  

Themes relating to places, plants and people include: cereal and plant cultivation, processing and production for food, clothing, dyes, land management and the people involved in carrying out what has often been backbreaking and skilled work. Windmills and watermills have significantly shaped the land and affected its use, as such by the drainage of fenland, the redirection of streams and rivers, and the clearing of land for unhindered wind. Mills themselves have formed an iconic feature of the landscape, as represented in artworks, poetry, stories and legends. Modern uses of wind and water power, such as for electricity generation, will continue to shape and be shaped by the landscape, and related issues of food production, climate change and sustainability are becoming all the more pertinent.  

The team is passionate about making the material available freely available and encouraging access and engagement. It provides an enquiries service, responding to a range of public queries daily. The Trust also provides support and collaboration for other organisations, such as windmill and watermill heritage attractions, to whom it offers advice and training in caring for their own archival collections and volunteer recruitment. 

The Trust is run by four professional staff, supported by the important contributions of volunteers, many of whom have benefited from their work experience programme. The Trust was awarded the Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service in 2018. Each year more than 100,000 users engage via the website and catalogue of more than 80,000 digitised images. People may also visit its reading room to conduct research in person, in the beautiful surroundings of Watlington House in central Reading, a Grade II* listed building and reputedly the oldest remaining residential building in Reading 

Website: millsarchive.org  

Catalogue: catalogue.millsarchive.org