Welcome to the Industrial Heritage Networks and Support website. This site is maintained and updated by the Ironbridge Gorge Museum Trust who run the project and the networks. We aim to support industrial heritage in England through networking, information exchange, guidance, and training. Please explore the website and please contribute! For more information you can … Read more Welcome to the IHNs website!
Arts Council England (ACE) want to hear from anyone who has an interest in, or a view about, the operation of the Arts Council England and what it delivers, by completing the ACE Review survey. The Review is an opportunity for a national conversation about the future of Arts Council England and how creativity is nurtured and developed.
Over the years ACE has supported many industrial heritage museums and sites, and continues to be an important source of support for the Industrial Heritage sector, from lcoal authority sites to independent museums.
The survey is one part of that conversation and will enable a broad range of people to share their views and ideas. It is an essential part of the evidence collection for this Review. The survey starts with a profile section consisting of up to 10 questions. The remaining questions are optional, consisting of 32 questions across 6 themed sections.
Silk macinery in operation, Paradsie Mill. Image courtesy of Paradise Mill.
This spring, the National Lottery Heritage Fund awarded £227,000 to The Silk Heritage Trust to develop Paradise Mill and the Silk Museum in Macclesfield into a vibrant campus of economic activity, skills development, and heritage participation. This grant will help keep alive the stories of Macclesfield as the centre of the nation’s silk heritage.
The three year project ‘A Stronger Future: Developing the Silk Heritage Trust’s vision for culture and heritage in Macclesfield’ aims to improve the training of the museum’s staff and volunteers. It also intends to help preserve endangered collections, the museum’s silk weaving skills, and extend the museum’s audience reach.
Paradise Mill, Macclesfield. Image copyright Dr Michael Nevell
Shrewsbury Flaxmill Maltings recently won a European Heritage Award/ Europa Nostra Award 2024 for Conservation and Adaptive Reuse. A free webinar has been orginsed with the architects who led the project, Geoff Rich and Tim Greensmith, who will share with the fascinating story of the project.
Established as a Flax mill in 1797, the site of Shrewsbury Flaxmill Maltings includes the world’s first iron-frame building which has been described as the ‘grandparent of skyscrapers’. Its combination of cast iron beams and columns, brick arches, and cast iron ties made its construction fireproof, while large windows admitted natural light for its numerous employees. A century later, it was converted into a maltings through a second state-of-the-art design, with windows either blocked up or made smaller, boiler houses demolished, a timber hoist and new tower added, and a large kiln built.
The brief for this project called for an exemplar of sustainable refurbishment to support the next 100 years of use for a building with a particularly innovative design heritage. Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios (FCBStudios) have conserved the enduring elements of both uses to provide four floors of flexible working space, while weaving in a contemporary layers to accommodate a visitor centre and café.
The online meeting will end with a Q&A session. Please find more information about the project and the speakers below. To register please follow the link on Eventtbrite (though hurry as the webinar is at 5pm on the 24 April!):
The Heritage Alliance have launched a new Heritage Creates report, updating work they did in the 2019 report Inspiring Creativity, exploring the relationship between the heritage sector and the creative industries in England.
Since the publication of Inspiring Creativity, the creative industries have continued to flourish, capturing the attention of the public and policymakers alike. Furthermore, the evidence base for heritage’s integral contribution to these industries has grown. The Heritage Alliance arges that the continued political and economic relevance of the creative industries under a new government, alongside the emergence of new technologies and bolder commitments to inclusion, makes 2025 a timely opportunity to update the 2019 report.
The 2025 Heritage Creates report is organised into five thematic chapters, each of which focuses on a particular dimension of the relationship between the heritage sector and the creative industries. The themes are accompanied by case studies demonstrating how heritage delivers on each of these themes:
The 2019 Inspiring Creativity, Heritage and the Creative Industries report summarised available evidence and featured case studies showcasing partnerships from the breadth of the heritage sector and creative industries to highlight the mutual benefits of cross-sector working.
Arts Council England (ACE) has opened a new £20 million fund to support local authority museums. ACE have also published the timetable for Museum Estate Development Fund (MEND) Round five.
The Museum Renewal Fund targets museums owned and directly maintained by local authority funding, or with a governance link to a local authority. The programme is intended to help museums meet the shortfall between operating costs and income throughout their 2025-26 budget, where the shortfall results in reduced programming, footfall, and days open to the public.
Museums can apply for a minimum of £10,000 up to a maximum of £1million. The application deadline is 22 May with outcomes expected by 26 June latest. The funding period runs from August 4 to 31 January 2026.
ACE have also released the timetable of Round 5 of the Museum Estate Development Fund (MEND). This capital fund targets non-national Accredited museums and local authorities based in England. It covers funding to undertake vital infrastructure and urgent maintenance backlogs which are beyond the scope of day-to-day maintenance budgets.
The total fund is worth £25million and grants range from £50,000 to £5million. Expressions of Interest for Round 5 open at 9am on Monday 12 May 2025 with a deadline of Thursday 5 June.
As English Heritage prepares to welcome visitors to the Flaxmill Maltings building in Shrewsbury, Shropshire, a hunt for the missing bell has been launched.Matt Thompson, the curatorial director of English Heritage, commented that “we believe the bell went missing in the late 1980s or early 1990s, when Shrewsbury Flaxmill Maltings was left derelict. Whilst it is possible that the bell could have been melted down, it is more likely that someone took it as a souvenir of this imposing, historic building which – at the time – looked close to ruin”
The empty bellcoate at Shrews Flaxmill Maltings. Image copyright Dr Michael Nevell.
Shrewsbury Flaxmill Maltings is known as the grandparent of the skyscraper, the building being the world’s first multistorey, iron-frame building, with the design paving the way for modern high-rise buildings. The site opened in 1797 as a flax mill and then, from 1897 to 1987, was used as a maltings. It also served as a temporary army training unit and barracks during the second world war. A third of the 800 workers at the flax mill were under 16 and some as young as nine. Shrewsbury itself was too small to provide that number, so children were brought in from as far afield as London and Hull, mostly from the workhouses. Often orphans, the children were given housing, food and clothes but not paid wages. The missing bell would have called the children in from the apprentice house nearby.
Originally operated by a pull rope, the bell changed to an electric chiming mechanism after the second world war, but was lost when the building was left derelict after the closure of the business in 1987. Believed to be around 60cm (24in) high, the bell is cast with the year “1797” on it. The bellcote has been restored but remains, for the moment, empty.
Shrewsbury Flaxmill Maltings opened on 1st April 2025 as English Heritage’s first new paid-for site in 21 years.
King Edward Mine Museum (KEM), a volunteer-led charity within the UNESCO Mining World Heritage Area of Cornwall, is looking for more tour guides when it re-opens for the new season on 20 April.
The site saw a significant rise in visitor numbers last year, many of whom travelled from overseas to explore the mine complex. The museum, which is dedicated to sharing the history of mining on the Great Flat Lode, and is Grade II* listed, lies in the village of Troon, near Camborne.
The mine tells the stories of Cornish miners and maintains a collection of historic mining equipment, including an operational Cornish tin mill, and a Holman winding engine. Originally worked under the name of Old Tye it was opened in 1844 together with Great Condurrow about 300m to the north, finally closing in 1921. However, the surface buildings continued in use for the teaching of mining, ore dressing, and surveying skills until 1974. In 1987 a volunteer group was formed with the aim of conserving the site as an educational resource for the future and the local community.
Walthamstow Pumphouse Museum and Markfield Beam Engine and Museum have merged under a new umbrella organisation, the Heritage and Communities Trust. The merger, which was finalised on 31st January 2025, brings together two of Greater London’s well-known industrial heritage sites.
Both museums will retain their individual names and distinct identities while benefiting from shared resources, expertise, and a unified governance structure. This strategic partnership creates the largest dedicated industrial heritage charity within Greater London in terms of public benefit and multi-site operation.
The flywheel of the pumping engine at Markfield. Image courtesy of Heritage & Comunities Trust.
The merger builds upon years of collaboration between the two listed Victorian-era sewage pumping stations, which are located approximately 45 minutes apart on foot along the River Lea. Both museums will continue to offer free entry to visitors, maintaining their commitment to accessibility and community engagement. “By joining forces, we’re creating a stronger, more resilient organisation that can better preserve and celebrate our shared industrial heritage,” said Abdullah Seba, Chief Executive of the Heritage and Communities Trust. “Our visitors will benefit from enhanced programming, improved facilities, and a more comprehensive understanding of London’s industrial past.”
The newly formed Heritage and Communities Trust will oversee both museums as well as two attractions at the Walthamstow Pumphouse Museum: The Tool House (a community maker space) and Supperclub.tube (a pop-up dining experience in a decommissioned Victoria Line carriage), with plans for further growth in the future. The Board of Trustees for the Heritage and Communities Trust includes representatives from both original museums to ensure continuity and balanced governance. Both museums will remain free to enter, continuing their position as the only free-entry industrial heritage museums in Greater London.
Walthamstow Pumphouse was built for Walthamstow Urban District Council and extended in 1896 to accommodate the current engine. It was closed around 1970. The museum opened in 1997 when a group of local enthusiasts came together to restore the Grade II listed Marshall engines and form the Friends of the Pumphouse. Markfield Beam Engine was built by the Tottenham Local Health Board in the 1880s and began its working life in 1888. It closed in 1964. In 1984 a Trust took on responsibility for the engine. In 2007 Haringey Council regenerated Markfield Park and restored the Grade 2 listed Engine Hall. The Trust restored the beam engine to full working order in 2008.
The Walthamstow Pumphouse Museum is open every Sunday from 10:30 am to 16:00 pm. Visit the website here. Markfield Beam Engine is open on selected Sundays and Bank Holiday Mondays. Visit the website here.
The Walthamstow Pumphouse. Image courtesy of Heritage & Communities Trust.
Due to the high demand for their latest webinar on the myths and misconceptions around heat pumps, Historic England is running an additional session on the 8th April 2025.
In this free webinar, Dan McNaughton and Sehrish Wakil, Senior Building Services Engineers at Historic England, will share practical advice and case studies to help participants plan and implement a successful heat pump installation project. The session will be followed by a Q&A. Book your free place here.
The Heritage Open Days team are offering two new micro-grants to support heritage sites and/or groups for the 2025 Festival. These are for the creation of new events that share stories highlighting under-represented histories, and to encourage people from under-represented backgrounds to participate.
These micro-grants are worth £350 each and come with one-to-one support from the national team. So, if your industrial archaeology or heritage site or group are planning a Heritage Open Day event why not consider widening its appeal with these support grants.
Applications are open to existing organisers who have participated for the last three years in HoDs, and to new organisers from under-represented backgrounds participating in the festival for the first time. The deadline for the micro-gants is Friday 4th April.
Full details and eligibility criteria can be found on the Heriotage open days website here
Industrial Heritage Networks 