Historical digital reconstruction and interpretation

High Mill Alston

High Mill in the Cumbrian town of Alston was built in 1767 as a water driven corn mill by renowned engineer John Smeaton.

Smeaton is famously known for his Eddystone lighthouse.
The grade II listed mill has been through a number of alterations through the ages but the original Smeaton design is still easily recognisable. Internally there is little left of the original building besides the water wheel and the pit wheel.

To help with tourism in Alston and to record the historic importance of this building, the mill has been digitally reconstructed and illustrated within a fun and informative virtual reality tour through its history.

Click HERE to see the VR launch reported on ITV news

The Complete Tour

Tour Screen Shots

Compare the 21st century building with its reconstructed 18th century counterpart using the slide bar on the images below.

historic reconstruction and illustration

The extension to the right and the new top floor were added in the 1820’s and the water wheel is housed in the wheelhouse to the left of the main building. Water was delivered through the roof at high level by means of the raised wooden trough which ran along behind a terrace of buildings.
The water originated from a dam at the top of the hill where the recreation grounds and bowling green now exist.
It was later redirected underground and raised up to the wheel by a standpipe inside the wheel house.