| The Mills Archive |
Library and Research Room
The Mills Archive was set up to help you find information about mills and milling. As a result we have put a lot of effort in 2002 into setting up our Internet catalogue, and at the same time we have been looking for a suitable place to site the Archive itself. We will be describing the launch of our catalogue shortly, but here we wish to describe our new premises.
The trustees are pleased to announce that we have now found a suitable site in the centre of Reading in the UK. On Christmas Day we took over part of Watlington House (see photograph). The former Kendrick Girls School was built in 1688 and was rescued with help from the SPAB and others in 1931. Since then it has been run by a group of trustees and let to appropriate charities.
The location and set up of Watlington House are ideal for our purposes. We are only 10 minutes walk from Reading railway station, which itself is less than half-an-hour from London. There is also ample secure and private car parking space within a walled garden. There are separate kitchen and toilet facilities and medium term opportunities for expansion within the building.
As we develop our storage space we will be able to offer progressively improving facilities. In the first instance, visitors to our office/library and research room will be able to inspect our computerised catalogue and our reference library. Archive material will have to be ordered in advance, as it will be brought in from a separate store. By May we expect the catalogue to hold about 5000 items, many of which will also be available over the Internet.
Our first priority is to protect our collections so there will be periods before a collection is catalogued and indexed when it will not be available for inspection. Once material is in our catalogue and properly protected in appropriate albums etc it will be possible to browse through it and request scans. Scanning is the best way to provide hard copies as we can then retain the image in our catalogue (and we don't have to buy a photocopier). If you wish to visit the archive you need to make an appointment so that we can be sure that one of our custodians can be there and available to help. As we are dependent on voluntary help cold callers will not be admitted!
If you would like to help as a volunteer or can help us financially by signing a standing order (even £1 or £2 per month will help to cover our rent) please email us at info@millarchive.com
Alternatively you can send us a donation straight away by using our
secure payment process.