Grant to restore 17th century Gunns Mill in Forest of Dean

The grant is enabling the timber frame of the roof of the bridge house to be repaired

Historic England has awarded a grant of £31,020 to repair an industrial heritage site.

The money was given to the Forest of Dean Building Preservation Trust to help restore Gunns Mill furnace.

The grant will enable the timber frame of the roof of the bridge house to be repaired.

The bridge house once protected the charcoal and ore from the weather before loading into the furnace.

Gunns Mill is considered to be the best-preserved charcoal blast furnace in Britain.

It dates from around 1682 when the Forest of Dean was one of the most important centres for iron production in the country, as it had been since the Roman period.

It was converted to a paper mill in 1743, but had fallen out of use by the 20th century.

'Major step forwards'

The Forest of Dean Buildings Preservation Trust took on the ownership of Gunns Mill in 2013 and since then has carried out a number of repairs to the structure with support and funding from Historic England.

In 2020, a grant of £84,000 supported the repair of the mill wheel pit structure and in 2022, works to stabilise the north wall, a major structural issue with the building, were successfully completed with a further grant of £95,000.

Kate Biggs of the Forest of Dean Preservation Trust, said: "Once the architects and engineers have prepared a solution, we will fundraise for the work to be undertaken.

"This is a major step forward in the journey of this building and would mean that we could remove some of the scaffolding, after over 20 years.

"For many years the scale of the project and the masonry repairs required meant that this point seemed a very long way off. It now feels that goal is achievable for our small Trust."

Gunns Mill will be open to the public on 16 September for Heritage Open Days.