Description

LOWER BRISTOL ROAD
(North side)

24/05/2007 Camden Mill

GV II

A former steam-powered flour mill, 1879-80, by Henry Williams, extended by F.W. Gardiner 1892.
MATERIALS: The building is constructed from coursed squared limestone, tightly jointed, under a Welsh slate roof. The overhanging hoists are of timber. The interior structure has timber beams supported on cast iron columns, and some brick fireproofing.
PLAN: The building is a large rectangular block with similar frontages to river and road, intended for shipment of grain in and onward distribution of flour.
EXTERIOR: The main elevation, facing south onto the Lower Bristol Road, is of six storeys and eleven bays, separated by full height strip pilasters. The first and fifth bays each have five taking-in doors, bays eight and nine each have two, and bay ten has three, all set in openings with segmental heads. Windows are four-light casements in segmental headed openings, except for paired sashes in the first and second bays on the ground floor, and smaller examples in the sixth floor of the sixth and seventh bays. The central section has a brick dentil frieze and terracotta details to the window openings at fifth and sixth floor level. Gabled timber hoists project from the fifth and sixth floors of bays five and ten. The original entrance in the tenth bay has been infilled. The gable elevation to the east has five strip pilasters, and a lunette window above, set in the gable. The rear, river front has very similar treatment to the street front, with gabled timber hoists to bays seven and eleven, with taking-in doors to work from barges in bays one, two, seven and eleven. Windows, doors and detailing are similar to those to the main elevation, and have the same detailing. Throughout all the elevations, the internal floors are marked externally by cast iron bosses secured through the ends of the floor beams.
INTERIOR: The structure has timber beams supported on a range of decorative corbels at the wall ends, and moulded cast iron columns set in rows. The columns clasp the beams, with decorative plates to the sides of the beams. The first floor has a fireproof ceiling of vaulted brick to the two easternmost bays; the remaining floors are of boards over timber joists. The timber staircase with plain square section balusters and wreathed handrail date from the refurbishment of the building in the 1980s.
HISTORY: The previous mill on the site, the Oil Cake Mills was burnt down in 1879, and the present mill was built soon after. The majority of the building was designed by Henry Williams, of Bristol, and constructed in 1879-80; it was then extended in 1892 by F W Gardiner. It was converted to office use in 1974-5. It has group value with the nearby Camden Malthouse and Silo (listed at Grade II).
REASONS FOR DESIGNATION DECISION
Camden Mill is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:
* the building is a good example of an increasingly rare survival, a large-scale flour mill dating from 1879-80, designed by a recognised regional architect of industrial buildings, Henry Williams of Bristol
* the mill is one of the few remaining buildings which demonstrate the importance that river traffic had for Bath, beginning with the opening of the Avon Improvement in 1727
* it is a valuable reminder of Bath's former importance as the centre of an agricultural area
* Camden Mill has good group value with nearby Camden Malthouse and Grain Silo (listed at Grade II).

Listing NGR: ST7477464413

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q26674141

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

Recommended Books

• 
  Gloucestershire 2: The Vale and The Forest of Dean: Vale and Forest of Dean Pt. 2 (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Northamptonshire: Buildings of England Series (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Central Leinster: Kildare, Laois and Offaly (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of Ireland)
• 
  Yorkshire: York and the East Riding (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Suffolk: East (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Berkshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)