The Town Mill, Lyme Regis

In the lemming-like rush to the sea The Town Mill in Lyme is often overlooked. Hidden in the back streets of the old town it needs just that bit of effort to find but it's well worth it.

Snuggled around a cobbled courtyard, the working mill was first recorded in the Domesday book (of course) and continued grinding away until 1926. It remained empty and derelict until the inevitable plans to demolish and replace it with a carpark in 1991 inspired enthusiastic Lymers to band together to restore it. The result of ten years dedication was finally unveiled by John Fowles in 2001.

Now, once more the wheel clunks, thunks and turns; vibrating the whole structure making it feel like a living thing. Other living things, enthusiastic volunteer millers, meanwhile explain the mysterious workings that turn grain into the staff of life.
The rambling ancillary buildings are occupied by small craft businesses and a cafe as well as hosting not one, not two, but three galleries while behind it  lies an intimate little garden based on the original mill plans.

Dorset Mills 1 - Sturminster Mill

The mill at Sturminster Newton is a photo opportunity. Picturesquely perching on the banks of the river Stour, mellow brickwork reflected in the glassy waters it's definitely a calendar girl. 

The mill has milled flour for Saxons, Normans, Plantaganets etc. right up to the 20th C with no complaints and is open to the public during the summer months.

Rather like visiting a venerable church you immediately sense in its dusty atmosphere an unbroken way-back-when pedigree while the rumble and clank of the wheel vibrating through the whole building makes you wonder how it hasn't been shaken into the Stour years ago. 

It is the Mill's situation though that makes the trip worthwhile and while there are no facilities there are picnic tables where you can take in this most quintessential of Dorset views.

Mill opening times