The Story of Albert Mill

Our Heritage

Albert Mill, a remarkable Grade II listed building, was constructed in 1733-34 by the Bristol Brass Company.

It has served various purposes over the years including a cotton mill, grist mill, and logwood mill.

The site, with roots in the Domesday Book, reflects a rich industrial history, beautifully preserved in its current form.

The origins of the mill can be dated back to the Domesday survey of 1086 which recorded a mill of probable Anglo Saxon origin, Sowthemyll or South Mill, later the Steel Mill.

Albert Mill was probably added later using the same leat

In 1734, a lease records the
Bristol Brass Company owning the site as a battery mill producing brass wear by beating brass slabs with water driven hammers.

There would have been 4 of these hammers at Albert Mill and the highly skilled workers would have sat on planks with their feet in a pit by the anvil. The hammers struck the brass at 200 to 400 blows per minute.

By 1788 a Bristol linen merchant, William Overend, bought a slave ship called the Mermaid the profits of which allowed him to buy a cotton mill, now known as Albert Mill

In the 1860’s the Blue Lias Lime Company was occupying the site using large stones to crush the limestone.

The Keynsham Lime, Paint and Colour Company had taken over the mill by 1870 but a disastrous fire destroyed the building on 14th March 1873.

After the war supplies of suitable logwoods died out as the countries of the West Indies decided to keep this resource and process the material internally.

Having used up the remaining material the mill increasingly turned to the processing of dry salts.

Eventually the mill closed and fell into disrepair.

The development Company Ausnere began work on the site in October 1987.

The new Albert Mill residential complex was opened in 1992