Historic Bridgnorth mill gets new lease of life

That's what some people will experience if they get their hands on some newly developed flats in an historic Shropshire mill.

The Grade II listed Fort Pendlestone in Bridgnorth has been converted into apartments and a house after a long development process costing millions of pounds.

The current owner is 35-year-old Nick Durrall and he says he has spent some £1.5 million after buying the building at an auction in London in August 2012.

He said: "The flats were here when we brought the building but they were in a bit of a state.

"So we redesigned the lot and rebuilt all of the flats and now they look incredible. I love them, and I thought I have to have one of these so I now live in one myself.

"I used to run alongside the River Severn here and I would see it and thought it looked great.

"I have a real passion for doing up old buildings and have lived and breathed this place for the last few years.

"It really has been amazing working on this building and see it properly come to life."

Mr Durrall took on the project as well as working with his family's electric business in Telford, Iconsys.

Fort Pendlestone on the banks of the River Severn and is a remarkably striking sandstone building with a fascinating history and as you stand in the courtyard you can feel the history washing over you.

Built by an eccentric mill owner in the 19th century, the gothic style mill containing a cast iron frame and remarkable brick jack arches.

The huge building has been used for a variety of purposes in its lifetime, including a corn mill, forge and textile mill.

The earliest record of the mill is in 1227 and it was given to the town by Henry III and was run by the Whitmore family who owned the Apley estate at the time.

The sandstone used for the construction of the mill was cut from the rock on the hillside adjacent on Bridgnorth Road.

The last use was in the early 1930's when the building was bought by the Co-operative Wholesale Society and was used as a milk exchanged right up until the early 1960's.

Ron Summers is a historian with the Worfield History Group.

He said: "The mill would have changed use and evolved over the year as mills do and the name changes with different owners.

"A lot of mills, including this one, went into massive decline and may have fallen to ruin, but this one now looks fantastic."

Fort Pendlestone occupies a prominent position on the banks of the River Severn, just over a mile outside of the market town of Bridgnorth, which itself is a town is steeped in history.

After falling into a state of disrepair a company failed on numerous attempts to properly finish the work on the apartments.

But Shrewsbury-based architects Base Architecture & Design were commissioned by Mr Durrall to upgrade the quality of the units and ensure that the building is sound and water tight, given its close location to the river.

The building is now a luxurious development, consisting of thirteen properties, which have recently undergone the comprehensive scheme of renovation and improvement.

The available properties include seven apartments, a detached two storey house, a duplex apartment, and two further properties which are set over three and four storeys.

There is also now a communal courtyard, landscaped gardens and storage facilities.

The guide price for the apartments is £198,000 to £285,000 and the agent selling them is Strutt & Parker and they said the apartments have had "significant interest" from a number of open days it has been holding.