Hydroelectric power could return to the former Nantwich Mill site, over 50 years after the landmark building was destroyed by fire.

Applicant, Mr Stephen Welch, on behalf of Nantwich Mill Community Energy Ltd, has submitted plans to install an Archimedes Screw turbine at the former Nantwich Mill Sluice, Mill Street, south of Welsh Row Bridge.

The scheme would generate renewable electricity from the River Weaver and connect to Nantwich Leisure Centre via a buried power cable.

It is a proposal rooted firmly in the town's history. Records show a water-powered mill existed on the site as early as 1228.

For centuries, the Weaver powered milling operations at what became one of Nantwich's most important industrial sites.



The scheme would generate renewable electricity from the River Weaver and connect to Nantwich Leisure Centre via a buried power cable (Photo: CEC Planning).

The mill later passed into the ownership of the Cholmondeley family before becoming Bott's Mill, a cotton spinning business, in 1789.

After the cotton era ended, the site returned to corn milling.

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Around 1890, the old water wheel was replaced by a turbine, continuing the site's long relationship with water-powered technology.

The mill survived into the 20th century as Boughey's Mill before a devastating fire in 1970 left the building beyond repair. It was demolished in 1972.

Today, little remains of the mill itself. But parts of the historic watercourse survive, including the former sluice channel now earmarked for the hydro scheme.

The deadline for submitting comments is Monday 22 June, with a target decision date of Tuesday 7 July.

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