Restoration programme cued up at listed Leeds gem

Closed in April 2024, Thwaite Mills has been taken over by a local consortium with plans for a working museum with pub, café and canalside beer garden.

A former flax mill complex, the grade two-listed site at Stourton is now being prepared for a 12-month community restoration with the public invited to shape further elements of the project.

Thwaite Mills is described as one of the best-preserved working watermills in Britain, and is now in the control of four new owners.

Will Habergham and Kirk Allen, co-founders of Leeds social space Green Room, have teamed up with nightclub entrepreneur Terry George and Michael Rothwell on the project.

Works over the next year will be carried out alongside volunteers from Friends of Thwaite Mills, the supporters’ group the new ownership group is relaunching as part of the project. No reopening date has been set.

Early plans include reopening the mill as a working museum, a pub and cafe with canalside seating, and fully landscaped grounds free for walkers, runners and dog walkers to use.

A programme of free family events is planned, and the owners are exploring the return of the craft fairs and car boot sales the site was once known for. Longer term, they hope to add weddings, small music events and a beer garden.

Will Habergham and Terry George have high hopes for the site. Credit: via Chapter 81

Director Habergham said: “Thwaite Mills was saved by its community once before, and it’ll be brought back by its community now.

“We’re not going to disappear for a year and come back with a ribbon to cut. We want people watching it happen, turning up, and telling us what they want this place to be.”

Built between 1823 and 1825, Thwaite Mills worked first as a flax mill and later produced whiting and paint, operating commercially until 1975, when a broken weir threatened its future. Local volunteers stepped in to save it the following year, and it opened as a museum in 1990, welcoming visitors until it closed in April 2024. The relaunched Friends of Thwaite Mills is open to anyone, including former members of the original Thwaite Mills Society.

No professional team is in place yet. A spokesperson told Place Yorkshire that “it is still very early days, as we only secured the site last week.

“We are beginning conversations with planning, conservation, architectural and engineering specialists, but the full professional team has not yet been appointed.”

Longer term plans for the whole site will come together as the owners get a full understanding of their new asset. Place was told that surveys are still being carried out to establish the condition of buildings and machinery, so the team can set priorities before a phased programme is set and grants and partnerships explored.

Early days, but the overall vision could be worth waiting for. Place was told: “Our ambition is to bring the full 19-acre site back into active public and community use. This will be phased and will, of course, depend on safety, conservation, ecology and operational requirements.

“The aim is for people to enjoy not only the museum, but also the grounds, riverside setting and future community events.”