Dunkirk Mill is located about a half mile out of Nailsworth, on the A46 towards Stroud. The Nailsworth to Stroud cycle trail passes right behind the mill on the old LMS railway branch line.
The mill appears to date back to 1741 although something smaller was probably on this site earlier.
I’m not sure of the current height of the chimney as it may have been reduced when the mill was converted to flats but it was originally 70ft, then later rebuilt to a height of 125ft (taken from the book Dunkirk Mill and its Neighbours).
The black and white image below is one I took probably in January 1989 and shows part of a wheel mechanism that was at the Stroud end of the building. This has since been restored and the mill has open days where you can see it powering some looms.
The mill stood empty for for quite some time after it ceased to be used for it’s former use as hosiery and walking stick manufacture.
The conversion to flats began with the property boom in the 80s and was then sold, half finished when the slump followed, probably in 1990.
Very slowly the conversion continued. The mill is now houses flats with a swimming pool in the basement.
Apparently, during the winter of 1939/40 it was so cold that people went skating on Walkers Ponds, Dunkirk. The photo below was sent to me many years back by the late Betty Mills who was well known in Nailsworth and shows skaters at Dunkirk Mill.
What looks like the mill chimney can be seen in the far right of the photo.
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The Gloucestershire Woollen Mills by Jennifer Tann
Gloucestershire Woollen Industry and its Mills
Labour and the Poor Volume V: The Manufacturing Districts (5) (The Morning Chronicle’s Labour and the Poor)
