You may have seen this imposing building during your travels in the Great Haseley area of Oxfordshire. Sadly, it has fallen into neglect and the years have taken their toll. A major restoration project is now underway, aiming to return this historic building to its former glory. Follow the progress of the restoration in our blog....


The Restoration Team

Thursday 16 September 2010

Drum restoring, and flooring

Sack hoist drive drum

New pieces let-in

Drive drums for boulters



A mixture of on and off-site work since the last post. Off-site we have started to restore the drive drum for the sack hoist. This has been affected by woodworm but there is plenty of 'meat' left in it. The worst bits have been cut away and new pieces let in. Its a similar story with the drive drums for the boulters. These are also being repaired, backed up with a layer of plywood to support the fragile structure. (This won't be visible when completed). Meanwhile, on-site work continues on the replacement bin floor joists - the original millwrights seem to have made-do with what material was available - so each joist housing has its own peculiarities - very time consuming to refit.

Thursday 2 September 2010

On tenter hooks, and a rare weather phenomenon

The new steel yards, welded to a cranked shape, are being set up with the tentering gear. These mechanisms would allow the gap between the stones to be minutely adjusted, according to the speed of rotation of the sails. The layout has been deduced from evidence of the remaining parts of the originals.


Meanwhile, work is progressing on the new joists for the bin floor. Also, the stonework around the spliced beam ends on this floor is being reinstated.


We were treated to a 'fire rainbow' today - a coloured arc in the sky caused by light passing through ice crystals in high level cloud. I think the proper term is a circumhorizontal arc - quite a rare phenomenon at these latitudes.