mills is excavated

ARCHAEOLOGICAL work into one of Lymm's most historic areas has given an insight into the past.

The excavation of the slitting mill at Slitten Gorge has provided a window to see the way the mill worked hundreds of years ago.

The mill was used to make iron nails and wire - one of Warrington's main industries in the 17th and 18th centuries.

During the 16th century, nail making was a painstaking business, with all nails made by hand. This changed when a new machine was discovered in Holland, which flattened and cut iron.

These slitting machines became commonplace in mills. They were made up of two huge rollers powered by water wheels, which flattened and cut the iron into thin strips, which could then be made into nails.

There were at least five slitting mills in Warrington and the mill in Lymm was definitely in use by 1751, though the exact date it started is unclear.

Archaeologist Ian Miller said: "Stonemasons will now go in and fix the areas that have collapsed. They should start work in early August".

During the excavation, Mr Miller and his team found two big water wheel pits, which are original features of the site and fragments of iron slag, which shows that iron was definitely worked at the mill.

The Slitten Gorge excavation was funded by a Heritage Lottery grant.

The site had been excavated before - once in the late 1960s and again in the early 1970s - but the excavations were poorly documented, Mr Miller said.

The archaeological dig is part of the Lymm's Life project, which links Lymm Dam, Slitten Gorge, the Trans Pennine Trail and the Bridgewater Canal, to boost access to the villages' natural history.

These locations are linked on Lymm's Heritage Trail and now walkers will be able to see the old mill properly.