25 October 2018
We’ve Moved!
Old Priory Mill, West Street, Wells, BA5 2HG.
Holy Well Glass are very proud to announce our recent move to new, larger premises. We remain at the heart of the historic city of Wells, and can be found at Old Priory Mill, otherwise known as the Bishop’s Outmill.
Our workshop space is spread over three floors, giving us separate and spacious rooms dedicated to glass cutting & kiln work, cementing, glazing, metalwork, and conservation rooms, and a large office, meeting room and library space.
As a stained glass conservation workshop, fully immersed in heritage, we are ideally suited to our new surroundings, the features of which we are keen to preserve and respect.
The Old Priory Mill was part of a local priory estate, and a water mill has been recorded on the site as far back as the 11th Century. Locally it is said its early use was as a grain mill, to feed the workers who built Wells Cathedral, just a stone’s throw away.
A water mill was in continual use on the site from these early times, right up until the 1960’s, when the waterwheel blew off in a great storm! Today the marks can still be seen on the walls of the former wheelhouse from this moment in time. The mill does however retain most of its machinery, with the gearing system left fully intact.
Latterly the building was owned by Sheldon Jones Engineering Works, and thereafter became ‘The Trading Post’, a well-known retail centre, until Holy Well Glass took ownership this year, 2018; we anticipate for many years to come!
