The Stroudwater canal at Ebley

The large building in the distance with the tall chimney is called Ebley Mill, built straddling the River Frome about a mile west of Stroud town centre. There has been a mill at Ebley since at least 1393, when it was probably a watermill for grinding corn. The buildings originally stood on the north side of the canal. After 1800, when the mill was acquired by the Clissold family, it was relocated to this new building on the south side of the canal, and water power was supplemented by a steam engine, hence the chimney. The oldest of the surviving main buildings, Long Mill, was built in 1820 by the Clissold family. There is still a water wheel in the building, though it is no longer working. 

Between 1987and 1990, the Long Mill and various extensions were converted to offices for Stroud District Council by Niall Phillips Architects of Bristol. The cost was reputed to be £11 million, which caused a major outcry amongst the ratepayers, but the conversion secured the preservation one of the finest stone-built mills in the country.

I’d come there today to deliver my application for a postal vote to the Council offices, having left it a bit late despite several reminders to do so earlier from Helena. I won’t be able to vote on the day as I will be a polling assistant in the neighbouring district of Gloucester.

After posting the form in the relevant box outside the building, as the offices are still closed to the public, I went for a walk along the towpath. When I reached Oil Mill bridge I climbed up onto it as I’d never been to this spot before.  I think the man sitting with his phone enjoying the peaceful setting was on his lunch break from one of the many small businesses in this area close to the old canal.

I then walked south over the bridge for about fifty yards to Oil Mill, first built in 1721 to produce rape and linseed oil, which no doubt is the source of its name. It was adapted as a fulling mill between 1727 and 1751, and continued in cloth production until c.1840. I found an old footpath leading beside the mill building, towards the rear of the very recent housing development seen in my picture, which extends to both sides of the canal. The path would have followed the river bank at this point where I found an old abandoned bridge probably just big enough originally for a horse and cart. It was very quiet and I enjoyed standing by the now blocked off bridge watching the river flow. 

I soon spotted a white-throated dipper on some old mill related stonework on the far bank. It was a very young juvenile and was acting as if it had just fledged, behaviour I’ve observed before with dippers. Soon a parent came flying up close to it with a mouthful of grubs, but on seeing me it flew away again much to the annoyance of the juvenile which flapped its wings even harder. I left them to it..