Local history

Anyone visiting Howsham Mill is greeted by a sad sight. The building is very much the stereotypical ruin, no roof or floors, piles of masonry around the site with a great deal more ready to fall from the walls.

But it's clear the building, built in 1755, was more than just a mill, with gothic style vaulted windows and a finish in high quality stone that's very different to most industrial buildings of the time.

Sir Fred Strickland-Constable explains why it's so unusual. "It's an industrial building, it was built to grind corn, but it's also a folly for the big house just up the river. Therefore it has an usually beautiful design, particularly in the gothic revival style.

"It would have had a pyramidal roof and on top of it was a statue of venus in lead that was particularly beautiful and we'd love to be able to recover.

The front of the mill

"It's very sad to see how much it's deteriorated in the last 40 years. Probably the worst thing that happened was when they sold the machinery for scrap, the scrap dealers set fire to the building in order to make it easier to get the metal out.

"The basic structure is still there although a lot of the detail has been badly damaged. But there's certainly enough of the original structure there to make it well worth rebuilding."

Time has taken its toll on the surrounding area as well as the building. The lock that helps control the flow of water around the island, on which the mill is built, is in poor condition and leaks badly. The channels that once took the river past the water wheel are filled in.

There's a lot to do.

But it's hard to dampen the enthusiasm of those involved in the project to restore the mill.

"The intention is to generate electricity to sell to the national grid. The old water wheel has already been replaced, we can put turbines in the overspill race and possibly in the canal around the other side of the island.

"This will generate enough electricity to keep Howsham village running, and will give the charity an income which makes it all much more viable."

There's a lot of work to do

The eventual aim is to create a renewable energy resource centre with electricity being generated using water and solar energy. A place where school groups could come and see renewable energy in action.

So the result could be an 18th century mill once again operating for the industrial benefit of the local area using ancient technology to power the latest 21st century gadgets in local homes.

Howsham Mill has been revealed as the winner of BBC Restoration's North of England programme! This means it'll be featured along with the other finalists on a live television programme, hosted by Griff Rhys Jones, on Sunday 17 September - when the winner will be announced.

Between 00.01am on Friday 15 and late on Sunday 17 September, you can vote for Howsham Mill to be the overall winner of the series. This would secure the future of the building, with funds raised during the series from viewers’ phone calls, in addition to the lion’s share of £1.9 million set aside by the Heritage Lottery Fund.

The mill features gothic style windows

If you want to see all eight finalists again before you vote, however, there's a special update programme on Friday 15 September, on BBC Two.

To vote for Howsham Mill call 09013 600507. Please note, each call will cost £1, with 77p going directly to the Restoration Fund, a registered charity. Calls from a BT landline will cost £1. Calls from mobiles and other networks may vary.