Volunteers want to bake own bread at Tolkien’s landmark
Campaign aims to bring hobbits’ mill back to life
VOLUNTEERS at the famous Birmingham water mill which inspired The Lord of the Rings have launched a campaign to get it working again.
Flood damage to the Sarehole Mill in Hall Green needs to be repaired to “bring the site alive again”, as millers plan to start making their own bread on-site. The team aims to raise £6,500 for restoration work at the grade-II listed structure that has been a working museum for the past 50 years.
Team manager Wayne Dixon said: “2019 marks 50 years of Sarehole Mill becoming a museum, and we’ve got big plans for this year.
“We hope to restore our 19th century bakehouse and start baking bread on site.
“It will hopefully bring history alive for the visitors and will bring the whole feel of the site to life.”
A Crowdfunder page has currently raised £2,290 towards the team’s target.
It is believed that the water mill was the inspiration for the Great Mill in Hobbiton, the fictional home of Frodo and Bilbo Baggins in JRR Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings novels.
Manufacturer Matthew Boulton also used the mill as a workshop to experiment with rolling metal.
There has been a mill on the site since 1542, though the current buildings date from the 18th century.
But in May 2018 the mill was severely damaged by two feet of floodwater when the River Cole burst its banks.
The water wheel is believed to be clogged with debris from the flood, and needs to be cleaned out before it can be used again.
“What we need to do is drain the wheel pit and see what debris is underneath, and then we can get that removed,” said Mr Dixon.
“As we are one of only two working water mills in Birmingham. It’s important that we continue grinding and keeping the machinery going. It is far more than a collection of machinery. To have it running, you get a real insight into how things were in the past and a real appreciation of the ingenuity that went into making water mills work.”
The mill is part of the Birmingham Museums Trust.