Institution news
Stoke-on-Trent’s Jesse Shirley’s Bone and Flint Mill was presented with a prestigious Engineering Heritage Award by the Institution of Mechanical Engineers at a special ceremony on Saturday 2 December.
The mill, built in 1857, was honoured for being the only remaining operational steam driven potters' mill in the world. This site which encompasses the whole manufacturing process for producing ground flint and bone for use by the pottery industry, was in operation from 1857 to 1972.
Previous winners of Engineering Heritage Awards include Alan Turing’s Bombe at Bletchley Park, the E-Type Jaguar and the fastest ever Concorde.
John Wood, Chair of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers’ Heritage Committee, who will be presenting the award, said:
“Jesse Shirley’s Bone and Flint Mill is a fantastic example of British engineering and, uniquely, shows the whole process of producing flint and bone for the pottery industry from start to finish. This award honours not just the achievements of the early of the 19th Century engineers who developed the mill but also the work of the volunteers at the Etruria Museum to restore and maintain the mill in such great condition.”
Bernard Lovatt, Company Secretary and Trustee of the charity that own and operate the mill at the Etruria Industrial Museum, said:
“It is a great honour to receive this award from the Institution. As well as recognising the uniqueness of the mill and the engineering that went into its design and construction in mid Victorian times it is a tribute the skill, knowledge and dedication of the volunteer group who restored it to working condition and continue to maintain and operate it today.”
John Wood presented the award to long serving mill volunteer Barry Job in the presence of the Lord Mayor and Lady Mayoress of Stoke-on-Trent (Councillor Ross Irving and Miss Christine Warren), Institution members, mill and museum volunteers and other guests.
The Etruria Industrial Museum, which is situated at the junction of the Trent and Mersey and Caldon Canal, is home to the only operational steam driven potters’ mill in the world. It was built in 1857 and is driven by one of the oldest working rotative beam engines remaining, built in the 1820s with steam raised by a hand stoked Cornish boiler built at nearby Cliffe Vale in 1903. It is a scheduled monument and has been restored to working condition during the last 38 years by volunteers who continue to maintain and operate it.
The Institution of Mechanical Engineers was established in 1847 and has some of the world’s greatest engineers in its history books. It is one of the fastest growing professional engineering institutions. Headquartered in London, we have operations around the world and over 117,000 members in more than 140 countries working at the heart of the most important and dynamic industries such as the automotive, rail, aerospace, medical, power and construction industries.
The Engineering Heritage Awards, established in 1984, aim to promote artefacts, sites or landmarks of significant engineering importance – past and present.
For more information: Engineering Heritage Awards