Stourton’s historic Thwaite Mills has a future again. After more than two years standing empty, the Grade II-listed watermill has passed into the hands of four new owners — Will Habergham, Terry George, Michael Rothwell and Kirk Allen — who intend to turn it into a working museum, complete with a pub, café and beer garden on the water’s edge.
Restoration work gets under way imminently on the 19-acre site, which occupies its own island wedged between the River Aire and the Aire and Calder Navigation, barely ten minutes outside Leeds city centre. The mill closed to visitors back in April 2024, and the new owners expect the rebuild to take roughly a year, though they haven’t fixed a date for reopening.
Volunteers will play a central role in getting the place running again. The team is bringing back Friends of Thwaite Mills, the mill’s old supporters’ group, and putting out a wide call for help — not just labour, but expertise. Millwrights, engineers, joiners, stonemasons and archivists are all wanted, along with anyone who once worked or volunteered at the mill and understands its water wheels, machinery or buildings inside out.
Terry George said: “There will be people out there who know this mill better than we do, people who worked here, volunteered here, or just understand how a place like this goes back together. We want to hear from them. If you’ve got the knowledge, the skills or just the enthusiasm, come and find us. This isn’t a job for four blokes with a set of keys. We want to see it working again, and we want it to be a thing of beauty.”
Sprawling beer garden
The early vision for the site includes converting the old mill owner’s cottage into a pub and turning the former ticket office into a café. Beyond that, expect a sprawling beer garden stretching towards the water, and grounds open to the public — walkers, runners and dog owners alike — free of charge. There’s talk of reviving the craft fairs and car boot sales the mill once hosted, plus a calendar of family events and community days, with weddings and small-scale live music pencilled in further down the line.
Will Habergham, director of Thwaite Mills, said: “Thwaite Mills was saved by its community once before, and it’ll be brought back by its community now. We’re not going to disappear for a year and come back with a ribbon to cut. We want people watching it happen, turning up, and telling us what they want this place to be.”
He added: “The owner’s cottage plans are for a proper traditional canal-side pub, and the old ticket office will be the cafe. There’s so much land here that the beer garden can be huge. Nineteen acres, on its own island, minutes from the city centre. It’s been bought for the community of Leeds, and that’s who it’s for.”
Chance to take part
Construction on the mill ran from 1823 to 1825. It began life processing flax before switching to whiting and paint production, work that continued commercially right up until 1975, when a broken weir put the site’s survival in doubt. Volunteers rallied the following year to save it from ruin, and by 1990 it had reopened as a museum, staying open to the public until it closed once more in April 2024.
Membership of the revived Friends group is open to newcomers and veterans alike, including anyone who belonged to the mill’s original supporters’ society. Joining brings regular updates, a chance to take part in volunteer days, and input into decisions about the site’s future. Rather than saving news for a big reveal, the owners plan to share progress as it happens via social media.
Anyone wanting to get involved, find out more, or offer their skills can visit www.thwaitemills.com or follow the project at @thwaitemills online.
