Woodchester Mill is located about two and a half miles out of Nailsworth, on the A46 to Stroud. It was occupied by a very well known piano maker, Bentley Pianos Ltd. The photo below is of Bentley Pianos in 1988.
On this site stood the original mill owned in 1605 by Henry Dudbridge who sold it to Sir George Huntley of Froster, which is recorded as being a grain mill.
Interestingly there’s a place called Dudbridge about two miles away.
It seems that another mill was built on this site in 1804, which was destroyed by fire. 1938 saw the mill rebuilt to a smaller scale which is shown in the photograph. Unfortunately, another fire in 1989 destroyed this building, which was subsequently rebuilt in the same tradition and opened in 1991 by Princess Michael of Kent.
Update – 8th April 04
The piano company failed against increasing competition and has since closed down.