Flaxmill Maltings on Yesterday Channel’s Smoke & Steel 

15 March 2022

Last May, Shrewsbury Flaxmill Maltings welcomed a film crew from a new documentary series called Smoke & Steel: Secrets of the Modern World to site. The series is being shown on the Yesterday Channel on Monday evenings at 9pm. The Flaxmill Maltings features in episode 6 on Monday 21 March 2022.

The series showcases extraordinary industrial heritage stories and reveals how the pioneering solutions, inventions and techniques of the great engineers from the Industrial Revolution changed the way we live, think and build today.

Their team spent the day with Historic England’s Nick Hill, where presenter Dr Shini Somara learnt all about the fascinating story of the world’s first iron-framed building.  

It’s incredible to think that the pioneering cast-iron frame of the Main Mill at Shrewsbury Flaxmill Maltings paved the way for structures to be built taller. It took Charles Bage’s innovative thinking and the technical skills of local ironmaster William Hazledine to develop the design and this led to a world-first right here, in the heart of Shropshire. It’s fantastic to be part of this fascinating series and to share in detail the story of the grandparent of the skyscraper.

Nick Hill, National Conservation Projects Manager, Historic England

The focus of the current restoration is the Grade I listed Main Mill and Grade II Kiln. This part of the project will be completed in 2022 when the Flaxmill Maltings will open and we will welcome people to eat, learn, visit, work and enjoy everything this amazing place has to offer.

Episode 6 of Smoke & Steel featuring the Flaxmill Maltings aired at 9pm on Monday 21 March 2022 on the Yesterday Channel and can be watched on UKTVPlay for 30 days after this.

If you are interested in filming at the Flaxmill Maltings, please visit our Filming and Photography page for more information.