Friends of the Flaxmill Maltings
The Friends of the Flaxmill Maltings are a local charity created in 2010 by volunteers to engage the public with Shrewsbury Flaxmill Maltings. Since then, they have worked in collaboration with partners, Historic England and Shropshire Council, in planning a project to restore and bring back to life this internationally important site.
Earlier in the restoration, the Friends were able to welcome people to the site from far and wide to visit the old visitor centre, to have tours, come to family fun-days and other events and exhibitions. Even with the site inaccessible, they continue to provide talks for groups, and engage with the local community.
The much-anticipated opening will see the Friends managing the ground floor of the Main Mill. It will feature a new visitor experience with an exhibition involving hands-on activities which bring the past, present and future of the site to life, plus guided tours, talks and walks. There will also be a programme of exciting events developed over the year, and a new education programme, developed by the Friends, will offer activities for Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2.
The community will also be able to use a variety of facilities on site, some of which will be within the Main Mill ground floor area that the Friends will look after and these spaces will be booked through them. Other spaces which can be hired around the site can be booked through Historic England.
The Friends are also now working with Historic England to find an exciting café tenant for the Flaxmill Maltings. The Friends will also run the gift shop which, together with the café, will serve visitors, commercial tenants and the local community.
The Friends’ board consists of local councillor Alan Mosley (chair), Clive Beer, Richard Bonella, Peter Dunhill, Fiona Fortune, David Parry, David Purslow and Penny Ward.
They have been supported by a small team of staff, as well as enthusiastic, conscientious, and hardworking volunteers without whom none of the Friends’ successes could have been realised.
If you would like to contact a member of the Friends’ staff, please email:
“It’s been a roller coaster ride over many years, but we are close to realising our ambition of playing a part in the sustainable restoration of a world’s first at the heart of our community. So many thanks go to the Board, staff and tremendous volunteers for making our exciting future possible.
Alan Mosley
At the forefront of the project the support, dedication, innovation and collaboration from Historic England has been tremendous.”
Chair of the Friends of the Flaxmill Maltings
Volunteer
As a volunteer you will be part of a friendly team of people who share a passion for this wonderful site and its stories.
