On December 7th, 2019 the Milling and Grain team were very happy to visit The Mills Archive down in Reading, UK. Our readers are no doubt familiar with The Mills Archive, as their Trustee, Mildred Cookson, has been a regular columnist for Milling and Grain magazine for several years now, providing intriguing columns depicting the history of UK milling throughout the ages.
This trip to The Mills Archive was important for a multitude of reasons: one reason being that the archive has recently amassed the coveted Rex Wailes Collection from the Science Museum in London.
Rex Wailes was a prolific milling expert of the mid-to-late-1900s and produced a variety of documents exploring all kinds of mills including watermills, flourmills and windmills from all over Europe and the USA. As well as working professionally as a consultant for mill repairs and restoration, he also played a crucial role in the formation of the Mills Section of the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings.
As we took a tour through The Mills Archive's brilliant collection of historical milling documents, we pored over the old documents belonging to this influential figure, which included technical illustrations of various mills, letters from Rex's 1929 voyage around the world and other technical writings discussing milling through the ages and his recent visits to various old flourmills.
Talking to the members of the archive, it was clear that they are all extremely pleased with their recent acquisition and remain eager to continue discovering new secrets that remain hidden in his manuscripts. The entire venture appeared not dissimilar to a jigsaw puzzle, certain seemingly unrelated documents linking to one another through brief mentions of the same trip abroad or recent visit to a specific mill, each connection bringing the archivists satisfaction that the mysteries of Rex Wailes were slowly but surely being uncovered.
Leaving our stamp on the archive
During this trip, Milling and Grain were also very proud to officially open the Milling and Grain Room at the Mills Archive Trust. Following several presentations discussing the recent work of The Mills Archive, as well as how Milling and Grain and the archive can continue to work together in the future to ensure the proper preservation of milling history throughout the ages, our plaque was donned onto the door as a symbol of the communion between the two historical milling organisations.
The Milling and Grain plaque now sits proudly on the entrance to The Mills Archive's primary room for storing and cataloguing all their documents, and this room is certainly impressive. Boxes, cases and scrolls line the walls right up to the ceiling, all containing unique, historical information that the archive is analysing and then preserving for generations to come.
The Mills Archive's Director of Programmes and Development, Liz Bartram, explains that the most efficient and sure way to ensure such materials last through the ages is to scan them digitally and upload them onto The Mills Archives' online database.
'It isn't a quick job and must be done very slowly and methodically' she explains, 'but it is a crucial step to ensure that these documents are both easily accessible and suitably preserved for the future generations'.
Preserving these documents is crucial to ensure the development of milling through the centuries is never forgotten. Milling and Grain magazine are especially proud, as patrons of The Mills Archive, to ensure that through our help, the archive can continue to keep this rich history alive.
