The Royal Docks and Millennium Mills closed in 1981. The neighbouring Rank and CWS mills were demolished in the 1990's as well as the Silos B and C however D was to remain as it was granted Grade II Listed status along with the Mills themselves which are locally listed by Newham Council.
After many failed schemes to transform the site, in mid 2014 news was that the long abandoned Millennium Mills art deco building would be the centre of a £500 Million Investment in the area funded by mainly overseas investors.
However on the UK government website in January 2015 it was announced that the Mills will be transformed into a business park as a result of a £12 Million government funded project. Works are expected to take 5 years and continues to be part of the above-mentioned investment in the area which has reportedly increased to £3.5 Billion.
Work has certainly started on the site and there were signs of the beginning of works when we visited. Recently in the news (February 2015) it was reported that a fire broke out engulfing several floors as contractors were cutting metals which released sparks that travelled through gaps in the floor igniting rubbish in the floors below.
Visited with Spider Monkey and Andy de Kay. We decided to stop off at this iconic location and try our luck. The visit was an interesting once since security showed up the second we got out of the car doing a random external patrol we were watched intently while we slowly made our way around the perimeter followed by the security guard in his vehicle. Obviously he had clocked our camera bags and tripods and must have instantly known what we were up to but not phased we soon lost the guard and made our way inside.
We headed towards the rooftops snapping shots on some of the floors as we ascended one of the many central staircases before travelling back down the other side of the building capturing a few more pictures of the old mill rooms. The light was nice and soft overcast with clouds which worked well with the neutral colours of the concrete building. Quite happy with how the shots came out and really glad to finally tick this one off the list:
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Higher res copies of the above images and more photos on my website: http://www.proj3ctm4yh3m.com/urbex/...m-mills-london-united-kingdom-september-2014/
After many failed schemes to transform the site, in mid 2014 news was that the long abandoned Millennium Mills art deco building would be the centre of a £500 Million Investment in the area funded by mainly overseas investors.
However on the UK government website in January 2015 it was announced that the Mills will be transformed into a business park as a result of a £12 Million government funded project. Works are expected to take 5 years and continues to be part of the above-mentioned investment in the area which has reportedly increased to £3.5 Billion.
Work has certainly started on the site and there were signs of the beginning of works when we visited. Recently in the news (February 2015) it was reported that a fire broke out engulfing several floors as contractors were cutting metals which released sparks that travelled through gaps in the floor igniting rubbish in the floors below.
Visited with Spider Monkey and Andy de Kay. We decided to stop off at this iconic location and try our luck. The visit was an interesting once since security showed up the second we got out of the car doing a random external patrol we were watched intently while we slowly made our way around the perimeter followed by the security guard in his vehicle. Obviously he had clocked our camera bags and tripods and must have instantly known what we were up to but not phased we soon lost the guard and made our way inside.
We headed towards the rooftops snapping shots on some of the floors as we ascended one of the many central staircases before travelling back down the other side of the building capturing a few more pictures of the old mill rooms. The light was nice and soft overcast with clouds which worked well with the neutral colours of the concrete building. Quite happy with how the shots came out and really glad to finally tick this one off the list:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
Higher res copies of the above images and more photos on my website: http://www.proj3ctm4yh3m.com/urbex/...m-mills-london-united-kingdom-september-2014/