November

November News

ROSEMOOR RESTORATION REPORT FROM TONY NICHOLLS - 27th November 2019

It was good to see the canal in water again this week. The level was a few inches below the lower spillway but by next week, with further rain forecast, the canal should be at its maximum height. A moorhen was happily paddling around the lower basin when we arrived so the it hasn't taken the local wildlife long to make use of the new facility!

We continued to work on the excavation of the tucking mill and succeeded in removing the inevitable tree stumps and all the earth from the highest point of the structure adjacent to the canal. This revealed the outline of what looks like a brick retaining wall running parallel with the mill leat. Within the wall, our excavations exposed a layer of old mortar which would probably have been the foundation of the old floor. We think that the original bricks and/or flagstones were probably removed and used on other projects. Having said that, we have unearthed substantial quantities of stone from the site as can be seen from the piles in the photograph. Much of this will be used for re-building in due course.

We continued to work on the excavation of the tucking mill and succeeded in removing the inevitable tree stumps and all the earth from the highest point of the structure adjacent to the canal.

This revealed the outline of what looks like a brick retaining wall running parallel with the mill leat. Within the wall, our excavations exposed a layer of old mortar which would probably have been the foundation of the old floor. We think that the original bricks and/or flagstones were probably removed and used on other projects. Having said that, we have unearthed substantial quantities of stone from the site as can be seen from the piles in the photograph. Much of this will be used for re-building in due course.

Generally, working parties are held every Wednesday morning, meeting in the main car park at RHS Rosemoor, Torrington at 9.30am. New volunteers are always welcome. Please contact Project Manager, Ian Harrison (tel.01237- 475707) for more information.

ROSEMOOR RESTORATION REPORT FROM TONY NICHOLLS - 20th November 2019

After last week's successful excavation there has been a significant inflow of water into the upper basin which meant that it was not possible to continue work in this area. A decision was therefore made that the entire team (a full complement of nine!) should concentrate on further excavation of the tucking mill site.

With a big crew, we were able to attack several discrete areas of the site and removed many barrowloads of earth from the top section adjacent to the canal wall. This resulted in our most exciting find in many months when we unearthed part of an old iron wheel. Initially, we thought that this might have been part of the old mill wheel itself but its dimensions do not match the circular metal frames currently stored in the lime kiln which we believe were part of the original wheel. The function of this wheel is therefore unclear although it may have formed part of the fulling machinery. So far there is no sign of the missing section of the wheel but we live in hope!

Elsewhere, the team continued to excavate the main internal chamber and exposed more of the steps leading down from the upper level of the building. This also revealed a well preserved corner of the internal wall which suggests that wall may extend into another room but, at this stage, this is pure guesswork. In addition, further progress was made on digging out the mill leat where we have exposed a stone floor – no doubt constructed to prevent erosion of the bed of the race.

The final task of the day was the insertion of stop boards into the sluice. This will allow the basin to fill and, we hope, flush out some of the weed in the lower basin which has grown at an alarming rate over recent months.

ROSEMOOR RESTORATION REPORT FROM TONY NICHOLLS - 13th November 2019

There was a tangible sense of anticipation around the site this week as we witnessed the arrival of the hired excavator to start work on digging out the upper basin. This was a very substantial piece of kit and we watched apprehensively as the driver constructed an earth ramp down from the bund and then slowly eased the machine into the basin.

Despite the soggy state of the basin, the driver wasted no time in removing several tons of mud – work that would have taken the team many months to do manually.

The basin was out of bounds while this work was taking place so all the volunteers present set to work on the tucking mill site. One team continued with the excavation of the water channel which fed the former mill wheel while elsewhere we attempted to uncover more of the foundations. This revealed what appears to be part of a stone floor or possibly a sluice. The argument for the latter is that this feature lines up almost exactly with a circular 'sump' adjacent to the canal wall which we uncovered several weeks ago. This suggests that water may have been diverted from the canal into the 'sump' and then into a lower chamber of the mill. As ever, this is all speculation. In the absence an original plan, there are many aspects of the building which are still very puzzling.

Generally working parties are held every Wednesday morning, meeting in the main car park at RHS Rosemoor, Torrington at 9.30am. New volunteers are always welcome. Please contact Project Manager, Ian Harrison (tel.01237- 475707) for more information.

ROSEMOOR RESTORATION REPORT FROM TONY NICHOLLS - 6th November 2019

The persistent rain over the last week has produced a strong flow of water through the upper basin. This is currently being released through the sluice in order to keep the basin reasonably dry while we complete the restoration of the basin wall. The force of the water cascading through the sluice has started to scour out the bottom of the channel so our first task this week was to deposit several barrow loads of stone at the base of the sluice to prevent further erosion.

Repairs to the upper basin wall are virtually complete now with a little repointing work still to be done on the section near the bund. We also started to remove a lot of the loose stone from the lower chamber of tucking mill site reserving stone with at least one good face for reconstruction work which we hope to carry out when the site has been fully excavated.

Footnote: our resident robin turned up dead on cue for our coffee break. He is looking quite plump now no doubt due to a calorie-rich diet of bread and cake!