Georgian mill in the Yorkshire Dales gets emergency restoration grant after rumours it was to be sold for housing

Gayle Mill in Hawes, which dates back to 1784, is owned by Newcastle-based charity North of England Civic Trust and was leased to Gayle Mill Trust, who ran it as a visitor attraction until they were asked to vacate the site when extensive structural defects including a leaking roof forced it to close for remedial work.

There were rumours that the Grade II-listed building was to be sold for conversion into housing, but the North of England Civic Trust have now stated that this was never the case and that they had been unable to make any public comment on the mill's future until the £59,000 emergency grant was confirmed and a legal process resolved.

The money will be spent on repairing the roof, which has been damaged by 'rampant vegetation', ahead of a planned re-opening at Easter 2021.

The charity's director Graham Bell said it was 'inconceivable' that the mill would have ever been sold, as the Heritage Lottery Fund required legal security on the property as a condition of awarding the grant funding. This clause rules out selling on mortgaging the mill without their consent.

The Gayle Mill Trust were served with a notice to leave the mill at the start of 2020, after an extended lease to occupy the site expired. They had been involved in a dispute with the North of England Civic Trust following a series of 'botched' repairs several years earlier which had rendered parts of the building unsafe.

A Friends of Gayle Mill group remains active and members have met with representatives of NECT.

The 18th-century cotton mill appeared in the BBC series Restoration in 2004, placing third in the national final, and also featured on Guy Martin's How Britain Worked series for Channel Four in 2012.

Mr Bell said: “Thanks to the National Lottery and its players we have at last been able to gain access to the roof and other parts of the mill. Rampant vegetation was threatening to undermine the headrace. We’re grateful that The National Lottery Heritage Fund is supporting us at this crucial time - it’s a lifeline to us and others who are passionate about sustaining heritage for the benefit of all.”

Gayle Mill was originally water-powered, before later being converted into a sawmill. Between 1919 and 1948, its turbines supplied the entire village of Gayle with electricity.

It closed in 1988, and looked set to be converted into flats before its appearance on Restoration secured funding to preserve it. It opened to the public in 2008.