Saltford Brass Mill
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Saltford Brass Mill is a
brass mill A brass mill is a mill which processes brass. Brass mills are common in England; many date from long before the Industrial Revolution. ;Examples of brass mills include: * Brassmill (Ross on Wye) * Saltford Brass Mill See also * Calamine brass ...
on the River Avon at
Saltford Saltford is a large English village and civil parish in the Bath and North East Somerset unitary authority, Somerset. It lies between the cities of Bristol and Bath, and adjoins Keynsham on the same route. Saltford Manor House (built about 11 ...
,
Somerset Somerset ( , ), Archaism, archaically Somersetshire ( , , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel, Gloucestershire, and Bristol to the north, Wiltshire to the east ...
, England. It dates from the 1720s is listed as Grade II* and is also a
Scheduled Ancient Monument In the United Kingdom, a scheduled monument is a nationally important archaeological site or historic building, given protection against unauthorised change. The various pieces of legislation that legally protect heritage assets from damage, visu ...
. There was a watermill on the site at the time of the
Domesday Book Domesday Book ( ; the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book") is a manuscript record of the Great Survey of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 at the behest of William the Conqueror. The manuscript was originally known by ...
and it is the last surviving of over 30 mills which were once on this stretch of the Avon. Local
brass Brass is an alloy of copper and zinc, in proportions which can be varied to achieve different colours and mechanical, electrical, acoustic and chemical properties, but copper typically has the larger proportion, generally copper and zinc. I ...
making was initiated in
Bristol Bristol () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, the most populous city in the region. Built around the River Avon, Bristol, River Avon, it is bordered by t ...
around 1700 by the family of
Abraham Darby Abraham Darby may refer to: People *Abraham Darby I (1678–1717) the first of several men of that name in an English Quaker family that played an important role in the Industrial Revolution. He developed a new method of producing pig iron with ...
who later moved upstream because of the better water supply at Saltford and
Keynsham Keynsham ( ) is a town and civil parish located on the outskirts of the city of Bristol on the A4 that links the cities of Bristol and Bath, Somerset, Bath in Somerset, England. It had a population of 19,603 at the 2021 Census. It was listed i ...
. The brass was made from Cornish ores refined at Crew's Hole and then transported via the river. These were mixed with
calamine Calamine, also known as calamine lotion, is a medication made from powdered calamine (mineral), calamine mineral that is used to treat mild itchiness. Conditions treated include sunburn, insect bites, Toxicodendron radicans, poison ivy, poiso ...
from the
Mendip Hills The Mendip Hills (commonly called the Mendips) is a range of limestone hills to the south of Bristol and Bath, Somerset, Bath in Somerset, England. Running from Weston-super-Mare and the Bristol Channel in the west to the River Frome, Somerset ...
to make
calamine brass Calamine brass is brass produced by a particular alloying technique using the zinc ore calamine directly, rather than first refining it to metallic zinc. Direct zinc smelting appears to have been unknown in Europe until the mid-18th century, even ...
. This changed as processes improved and local copper smelting was replaced by supplies from
Swansea Swansea ( ; ) is a coastal City status in the United Kingdom, city and the List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, second-largest city of Wales. It forms a Principal areas of Wales, principal area, officially known as the City and County of ...
. By the 1850s
zinc Zinc is a chemical element; it has symbol Zn and atomic number 30. It is a slightly brittle metal at room temperature and has a shiny-greyish appearance when oxidation is removed. It is the first element in group 12 (IIB) of the periodic tabl ...
metal was used instead of calamine, using a process introduced by William Champion, who lived nearby. The site includes a battery mill which was used for hollowing out brass sheet to make pans, bowls and vats, some of which are on display. There is also a complete annealing furnace, one of four originally installed, which were used to heat the brass to reduce the likelihood of it cracking while it was being worked. The furnace is claimed to be one of the best remaining examples of this technology. There are also the remains of the
water wheel A water wheel is a machine for converting the kinetic energy of flowing or falling water into useful forms of power, often in a watermill. A water wheel consists of a large wheel (usually constructed from wood or metal), with numerous b ...
s initially used to power the machinery, one of which is still in working order. The battery mills were supplemented by
rolling mills In metalworking, rolling is a metal forming process in which metal stock is passed through one or more pairs of rolls to reduce the thickness, to make the thickness uniform, and/or to impart a desired mechanical property. The concept is simil ...
between 1760 and 1830, as this produced more even sheets of metal than the original battery techniques. However battery ware was still produced at the site until 1908, the last mill in Britain to do so. The mill ceased production in 1924. In 1995 it was restored and is now supported by a group of volunteers in conjunction with
English Heritage English Heritage (officially the English Heritage Trust) is a charity that manages over 400 historic monuments, buildings and places. These include prehistoric sites, a battlefield, medieval castles, Roman forts, historic industrial sites, Lis ...
and the owners
Bath and North East Somerset Bath and North East Somerset (B&NES) is a Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority district in Somerset, South West England. Bath and North East Somerset Council was created on 1 April 1996 following the abolition of the county of Avon. ...
Council.


References


Bibliography

* {{cite book, last=Day, first=Joan, title=Bristol brass: a history of the industry, year=1973, publisher=David & Charles


External links


Saltford Brass Mill
Industrial buildings completed in the 18th century Grade II* listed buildings in Bath and North East Somerset Scheduled monuments in Bath and North East Somerset Watermills in Somerset Rolling mills Grade II* listed watermills