Millennium Mills
Encyclopedia
The Millennium Mills is a derelict turn-of-the-century flour mill
in West Silvertown
on the south side of the Royal Victoria Dock
, between the Thames Barrier
and the ExCel
exhibition centre alongside the newly built Britannia village, in Newham
, London
, England. Along with Millennium Mills, there remains a small section of the now destroyed Rank Hovis Premier Mill and a restored grade II listed grain silo
, labelled the ‘D’ silo. Described as a "decaying industrial anachronism standing defiant and alone in the surrounding subtopia", the Millennium Mills has become a well-loved icon
of post-industrial
Britain and has made its way into many aspects of popular culture, being used as a backdrop in films and television shows such as Ashes to Ashes
and Derek Jarman's The Last of England. Millennium Mills is also a favourite destination for Urban Explorers despite high security, dangers of structural weakness, ten-storey drops and asbestos, and there are many reports and internal photos of the site.
designed to take imported grain direct from the ships.
Millennium Mills was designed and built by miller
s William Vernon & Sons of West Float, Birkenhead
in 1905 with construction overseen by W. A. Vernon, the principal's son. The mills were extensive, featuring two plants, equipped by Henry Simon Ltd, that had a capacity of 100 sacks per hour. W. A. Vernon described the mills in a single word as "palatial". Vernon and Sons named the mill after their most successful product, a flour variety which they called "Millennium Flour" after winning the "The Miller Challenge Cup" at the 1899 International Bakers Exhibition. The flour had been selected from "the best wheats of the world" and was put through a carefully designed industrial process. The victory gained Vernon and Sons "world-wide fame" and dominance in the English flour market. Millennium Flour was aimed at the rising twentieth-century masses, proving particularly popular in the mining districts, where it was known to make "beautiful white bread
sandwiches." The erection of Millennium Mills at the Royal Victoria Dock meant that this new flour could be brought to the Southern England market.
All of these mills were partially destroyed in 1917 by the Silvertown explosion
at Brunner Mond
's munitions factory on the North Woolwich Road that was manufacturing explosives for Britain's World War I
military effort. The Brunner Mond works was about 100 yards east of where Millennium Mills stood, and the ajoining grain silos and flour warehouses were amongst the 17 acres of buildings that the Port of London Authority
estimated were affected.
In 1920, Vernon & Sons was taken over by Spillers
Limited at which time the Millennium Mills was acquired. Spillers was an established flour milling business founded in 1829, which subsequently went into the production of dog food and animal feeds and by 1927. The Spillers name remains prominent on the east and west wings of the building.
Millennium Mills was rebuilt as a 10-storey concrete art deco
building in 1933.
Many port mills throughout the country sustained severe damage from bombing in the Second World War
; almost 75 per cent of the national capacity was concentrated at the ports which made them primary targets for air attacks. In London, Spillers' Millennium Mills as well as Rank's Premier Mills were substantially destroyed. Between 1945 and 1950 the ports underwent large-scale post-war reconstruction despite a deficit of raw materials and strict licensing. At this time Millennium Mills was rebuilt, including a windowless steel-framed infill on the west side, and was in operation by September 1953.
. The London Docklands Development Corporation
(LDDC) was in discussion in the 1990s with the Zoological Society of London
for a public aquarium
on the site of the former CWS mill, but funding for it was difficult to find and the idea was eventually shelved. The Rank and CWS mills were demolished by the LDDC in the 1990s, along with the Millennium Mills' B and C silos. The D silo to the south is Grade II listed. Millennium Mills itself is locally listed by Newham Council
.
In 2001 a project was proposed for the redevelopment of the former docklands area with a planning request being submitted to the Local Authority in 2003. By 2007, a £1.5 billion building scheme had been approved to convert the 24 hectare (60 acre) site into a mixed use development with residential
, commercial
, leisure
and public
areas. It was estimated that the scheme would be one of the largest urban regeneration projects in Europe, creating 2,000 jobs. The scheme was set to deliver 4,900 waterfront homes, with the intention of converting the Mills themselves into 400 luxury loft-style flats called Silvertown Quays. The development was also to include a new aquarium for London called Biota!
, designed by Terry Farrell
+ Partners. The building scheme was supported by a partnership between the landowner, the London Development Agency (LDA), joint developers Silvertown Quays Limited (SQL) and the Japanese developer Kajima Urban Development International with financial backing by the Bank of Scotland
. The first phase of the redevelopment was to see the Millennium Mills building developed into flats, with the demolition of the eastern and western wings, including the remains of the Rank Premier mill, leaving the main block of Millennium Mills, plus the south-western extension as a standalone tower. Planning approval was granted in 2007. However, no date was decided for work to commence.
In 2009, the LDA, having seen no progress on the project, served termination notices to the SQL, setting a deadline of the February 13, 2010 for the company to secure sufficient funds for the project. When the termination notice expired and the funds were unable to be raised the LDA ended their agreements with the SQL and the Silvertown Quays development was officially cancelled. Despite discussion with SQL’s main backer, the Bank of Scotland, and a new plan and revised timetable for the regeneration of the site, the London Development Agency
concluded that it could not accept the new proposals. The Agency is now considering how best to achieve the future regeneration of the site. Architects Journal suggested that the area may now be incorporated into a larger masterplan for the docks as part of a wider Royal Docks masterplan housing up to 30,000 people.
, the building remains derelict and is a destination for Urban Explorers who enter the site at high risk. There are many reports and internal photos of the site.
's dystopian film Brazil
. The interior featured as the ‘Department of Records’, a vast clerks pool where the character Sam Lowry worked, and the deserted corridors of the ‘Expediting Department’; the grim passageways and stairwells, as well as the exterior, served as ‘Shangri La Towers’, the Buttle family’s tower block
.
released his self-shot avant-garde
film The Last of England, which featured Millennium Mills as a key location. There was only one week of formal shooting for the film which occurred in November at the Royal Docks, an area Jarman described as "miles of desolation with the odd post-modern office building." In one scene it shows characters dancing on the roof of the empty Millennium Mills building.
British writer and psychogeographer
, Iain Sinclair
talks about the use of Millennium mills in Derek Jarman’s film, describing it as having “been christened by William Blake
and delivered by Albert Speer
"; the English Romantic poet and Adolf Hitler's chief architect. Sinclair goes on to call the mills "the perfect symbol for a cinematic endgame." In another piece of writing, Sinclair analyzes Jarman as a man who "saw the downriver reaches of Silvertown, with its abandoned flour mills, as a site for dervish
dances and the rituals of a punk apocalypse
."
. It formed one side of the backdrop, with the CWS mill in the centre and a screen supported by scaffolding on the other side. The concert coincided with the release of his album Revolutions which dealt with the theme of the industrial revolution
and the transition to the information age
, themes that resonated with the abandoned docklands; Jarre described the event as "a concert dealing with architecture".
(2008–2010). It appears as one of the first locations in the series in Episode 1
. The show is set in the 1980s, and using the Mills sets the scene for the London landscape of the show before the construction of the Millennium Dome
dominated the East London skyline. At the start of the 1980s the industrial East End had yet to start its transformation at the hands of the London Docklands Development Corporation
, which was founded in 1981.
Most recently Millennium Mills was used as a location in the 2010 film Green Zone
where the "desolate East London mill" provides the setting for Saddam Hussain's maze of underground tunnels and bunkers.
The mills also appear as the setting for a number of music video
s, including "Ask"
by The Smiths
(1986) filmed by Derek Jarman on the north side of Royal Victoria Dock, "Fluorescent Adolescent
" by the Arctic Monkeys
(2007), "Take Back the City
" by Snow Patrol
(2008) and "Every Teardrop Is a Waterfall
" by Coldplay
(2011).
Gristmill
The terms gristmill or grist mill can refer either to a building in which grain is ground into flour, or to the grinding mechanism itself.- Early history :...
in West Silvertown
Silvertown
Silvertown is an industrialised district on the north bank of the Thames in the London Borough of Newham. It was named after Samuel Winkworth Silver's former rubber factory which opened in 1852, and is now dominated by the Tate & Lyle sugar refinery and the John Knight ABP animal rendering...
on the south side of the Royal Victoria Dock
Royal Victoria Dock
The Royal Victoria Dock is the largest of three docks in the Royal Docks of east London, now part of the redeveloped Docklands.-History:...
, between the Thames Barrier
Thames Barrier
The Thames Barrier is the world's second-largest movable flood barrier and is located downstream of central London. Its purpose is to prevent London from being flooded by exceptionally high tides and storm surges moving up from the sea...
and the ExCel
Excel
Excel may refer to:* Microsoft Excel, a spreadsheet application by Microsoft Corporation* Excel , a brand of chewing gum produced by Wrigley's* Excel , a crossover thrash/punk band from Venice, California...
exhibition centre alongside the newly built Britannia village, in Newham
Newham
-Places:* London Borough of Newham, England* Newham, Lincolnshire, England* Newham, Northumberland, England* Newham, Victoria, Australia-People:* Billy Newham , English cricketer* Edgar Newham, Australian rugby league footballer...
, London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, England. Along with Millennium Mills, there remains a small section of the now destroyed Rank Hovis Premier Mill and a restored grade II listed grain silo
Silo
A silo is a structure for storing bulk materials.Silo may also refer to:* Silo , a 3D modeling software* Silo , a defunct chain of retail electronics stores* SILO , used in Linux...
, labelled the ‘D’ silo. Described as a "decaying industrial anachronism standing defiant and alone in the surrounding subtopia", the Millennium Mills has become a well-loved icon
Cultural icon
A cultural icon can be a symbol, logo, picture, name, face, person, building or other image that is readily recognized and generally represents an object or concept with great cultural significance to a wide cultural group...
of post-industrial
Post-industrial economy
A post-industrial economy refers to a period of growth within an industrialized economy or nation in which the relative importance of manufacturing lessens and that of services, information, and research grows.Such economies are often marked by:...
Britain and has made its way into many aspects of popular culture, being used as a backdrop in films and television shows such as Ashes to Ashes
Ashes to Ashes (TV series)
Ashes to Ashes is a British science fiction and police procedural drama television series, serving as the sequel to Life on Mars.The series began airing on BBC One in February 2008. A second series began broadcasting in April 2009...
and Derek Jarman's The Last of England. Millennium Mills is also a favourite destination for Urban Explorers despite high security, dangers of structural weakness, ten-storey drops and asbestos, and there are many reports and internal photos of the site.
History
During the early half of the 20th century, the Royal Victoria Dock became an essential part of industrial Britain and London’s largest centre of flour milling. The rail and water transport links made it an ideal location for business as well as an epicentre for international trade and commerce. The Cooperative Wholesale Society (CWS) was the first of the large nationwide milling companies to establish a flour mill in the area, with the opening of the Silvertown confectionery in 1901. Joseph Rank Limited would soon follow with the establishment of the Premier Mill at the Royal Dock in 1904. Vernon & Sons were the last to set up in the area when they built Millennium Mills. These mills, operated by Britain's three largest milling companies, converted imported grain from overseas into flour for the London market and were the first in the Port of LondonPort of London
The Port of London lies along the banks of the River Thames from London, England to the North Sea. Once the largest port in the world, it is currently the United Kingdom's second largest port, after Grimsby & Immingham...
designed to take imported grain direct from the ships.
Millennium Mills was designed and built by miller
Miller
A miller usually refers to a person who operates a mill, a machine to grind a cereal crop to make flour. Milling is among the oldest of human occupations. "Miller", "Milne" and other variants are common surnames, as are their equivalents in other languages around the world...
s William Vernon & Sons of West Float, Birkenhead
Birkenhead
Birkenhead is a town within the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral in Merseyside, England. It is on the Wirral Peninsula, along the west bank of the River Mersey, opposite the city of Liverpool...
in 1905 with construction overseen by W. A. Vernon, the principal's son. The mills were extensive, featuring two plants, equipped by Henry Simon Ltd, that had a capacity of 100 sacks per hour. W. A. Vernon described the mills in a single word as "palatial". Vernon and Sons named the mill after their most successful product, a flour variety which they called "Millennium Flour" after winning the "The Miller Challenge Cup" at the 1899 International Bakers Exhibition. The flour had been selected from "the best wheats of the world" and was put through a carefully designed industrial process. The victory gained Vernon and Sons "world-wide fame" and dominance in the English flour market. Millennium Flour was aimed at the rising twentieth-century masses, proving particularly popular in the mining districts, where it was known to make "beautiful white bread
White bread
White bread is made from wheat flour from which the bran and the germ have been removed through a process known as milling. Milling gives white flour a longer shelf life by removing the bran which contains oil, allowing products made with it, like white bread, the ability to survive storage and...
sandwiches." The erection of Millennium Mills at the Royal Victoria Dock meant that this new flour could be brought to the Southern England market.
All of these mills were partially destroyed in 1917 by the Silvertown explosion
Silvertown explosion
The Silvertown explosion occurred in Silvertown in West Ham, Essex on Friday, 19 January 1917 at 6.52 pm. The blast occurred at a munitions factory that was manufacturing explosives for Britain's World War I military effort...
at Brunner Mond
Brunner Mond
Tata Chemicals Europe is a UK-based chemicals company that is a subsidiary of Tata Chemicals Limited, itself a part of the India-based Tata Group...
's munitions factory on the North Woolwich Road that was manufacturing explosives for Britain's World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
military effort. The Brunner Mond works was about 100 yards east of where Millennium Mills stood, and the ajoining grain silos and flour warehouses were amongst the 17 acres of buildings that the Port of London Authority
Port of London Authority
The Port of London Authority is a self-funding public trust established in 1908 by the Port of London Act to govern the Port of London. Its responsibility extends over the Tideway of the River Thames and the authority is responsible for the public right of navigation and for conservancy of the...
estimated were affected.
In 1920, Vernon & Sons was taken over by Spillers
Spillers
Spillers Ltd is a defunct British company that owned flour milling operations in the United Kingdom, operated bakeries and also sold pet food.Winalot is a popular brand of dog food sold by Spillers.The name was first used in 1927 for dog biscuits...
Limited at which time the Millennium Mills was acquired. Spillers was an established flour milling business founded in 1829, which subsequently went into the production of dog food and animal feeds and by 1927. The Spillers name remains prominent on the east and west wings of the building.
Millennium Mills was rebuilt as a 10-storey concrete art deco
Art Deco
Art deco , or deco, is an eclectic artistic and design style that began in Paris in the 1920s and flourished internationally throughout the 1930s, into the World War II era. The style influenced all areas of design, including architecture and interior design, industrial design, fashion and...
building in 1933.
Many port mills throughout the country sustained severe damage from bombing in the Second World War
The Blitz
The Blitz was the sustained strategic bombing of Britain by Nazi Germany between 7 September 1940 and 10 May 1941, during the Second World War. The city of London was bombed by the Luftwaffe for 76 consecutive nights and many towns and cities across the country followed...
; almost 75 per cent of the national capacity was concentrated at the ports which made them primary targets for air attacks. In London, Spillers' Millennium Mills as well as Rank's Premier Mills were substantially destroyed. Between 1945 and 1950 the ports underwent large-scale post-war reconstruction despite a deficit of raw materials and strict licensing. At this time Millennium Mills was rebuilt, including a windowless steel-framed infill on the west side, and was in operation by September 1953.
Closure and future
The Royal Docks closed in 1981, and many businesses relocated to TilburyTilbury
Tilbury is a town in the borough of Thurrock, Essex, England. As a settlement it is of relatively recent existence, although it has important historical connections, being the location of a 16th century fort and an ancient cross-river ferry...
. The London Docklands Development Corporation
London Docklands Development Corporation
The London Docklands Development Corporation was a quango agency set up by the UK Government in 1981 to regenerate the depressed Docklands area of east London. During its eighteen-year existence it was responsible for regenerating an area of in the London Boroughs of Newham, Tower Hamlets and...
(LDDC) was in discussion in the 1990s with the Zoological Society of London
Zoological Society of London
The Zoological Society of London is a charity devoted to the worldwide conservation of animals and their habitats...
for a public aquarium
Public aquarium
A public aquarium is the aquatic counterpart of a zoo, housing living aquatic species for viewing. Most public aquariums feature tanks larger than those kept by home aquarists, as well as smaller tanks. Since the first public aquariums were built in the mid-19th century, they have become popular...
on the site of the former CWS mill, but funding for it was difficult to find and the idea was eventually shelved. The Rank and CWS mills were demolished by the LDDC in the 1990s, along with the Millennium Mills' B and C silos. The D silo to the south is Grade II listed. Millennium Mills itself is locally listed by Newham Council
Newham London Borough Council
Newham London Borough Council is the local authority for the London Borough of Newham in Greater London, England. It is a London borough council, one of 32 in the United Kingdom capital of London. The council is unusual in that its executive function is controlled by a directly elected mayor of...
.
In 2001 a project was proposed for the redevelopment of the former docklands area with a planning request being submitted to the Local Authority in 2003. By 2007, a £1.5 billion building scheme had been approved to convert the 24 hectare (60 acre) site into a mixed use development with residential
Residential area
A residential area is a land use in which housing predominates, as opposed to industrial and commercial areas.Housing may vary significantly between, and through, residential areas. These include single family housing, multi-family residential, or mobile homes. Zoning for residential use may permit...
, commercial
Commercial district
A commercial district or commercial zone is any part of a city or town in which the primary land use is commercial activities , as opposed to a residential neighbourhood, an industrial zone, or other types of neighbourhoods...
, leisure
Leisure
Leisure, or free time, is time spent away from business, work, and domestic chores. It is also the periods of time before or after necessary activities such as eating, sleeping and, where it is compulsory, education....
and public
Public space
A public space is a social space such as a town square that is open and accessible to all, regardless of gender, race, ethnicity, age or socio-economic level. One of the earliest examples of public spaces are commons. For example, no fees or paid tickets are required for entry, nor are the entrants...
areas. It was estimated that the scheme would be one of the largest urban regeneration projects in Europe, creating 2,000 jobs. The scheme was set to deliver 4,900 waterfront homes, with the intention of converting the Mills themselves into 400 luxury loft-style flats called Silvertown Quays. The development was also to include a new aquarium for London called Biota!
Biota!
Biota! was a proposed aquarium in the Silvertown Quays redevelopment, on the site of Millennium Mills adjacent to the Royal Victoria Dock, part of the wider Thames Gateway regeneration project for East London. The £80 million building by Terry Farrell & Partners architects was given outline...
, designed by Terry Farrell
Terry Farrell (architect)
Sir Terry Farrell, CBE, RIBA, FRSA, FCSD, MRTPI is a British architect.-Life and career:Farrell was born in Sale, Cheshire. As a youth he moved to Newcastle upon Tyne, where he attended St Cuthbert's High School. He graduated with a degree from Newcastle University, followed by a Masters in urban...
+ Partners. The building scheme was supported by a partnership between the landowner, the London Development Agency (LDA), joint developers Silvertown Quays Limited (SQL) and the Japanese developer Kajima Urban Development International with financial backing by the Bank of Scotland
Bank of Scotland
The Bank of Scotland plc is a commercial and clearing bank based in Edinburgh, Scotland. With a history dating to the 17th century, it is the second oldest surviving bank in what is now the United Kingdom, and is the only commercial institution created by the Parliament of Scotland to...
. The first phase of the redevelopment was to see the Millennium Mills building developed into flats, with the demolition of the eastern and western wings, including the remains of the Rank Premier mill, leaving the main block of Millennium Mills, plus the south-western extension as a standalone tower. Planning approval was granted in 2007. However, no date was decided for work to commence.
In 2009, the LDA, having seen no progress on the project, served termination notices to the SQL, setting a deadline of the February 13, 2010 for the company to secure sufficient funds for the project. When the termination notice expired and the funds were unable to be raised the LDA ended their agreements with the SQL and the Silvertown Quays development was officially cancelled. Despite discussion with SQL’s main backer, the Bank of Scotland, and a new plan and revised timetable for the regeneration of the site, the London Development Agency
London Development Agency
The London Development Agency is the Regional Development Agency for Greater London, England. It is a functional body of the Greater London Authority...
concluded that it could not accept the new proposals. The Agency is now considering how best to achieve the future regeneration of the site. Architects Journal suggested that the area may now be incorporated into a larger masterplan for the docks as part of a wider Royal Docks masterplan housing up to 30,000 people.
, the building remains derelict and is a destination for Urban Explorers who enter the site at high risk. There are many reports and internal photos of the site.
Popular culture
The location has featured in various media. In 1985, the former CWS mill nearby was used in the Terry GilliamTerry Gilliam
Terrence Vance "Terry" Gilliam is an American-born British screenwriter, film director, animator, actor and member of the Monty Python comedy troupe. Gilliam is also known for directing several films, including Brazil , The Adventures of Baron Munchausen , The Fisher King , and 12 Monkeys...
's dystopian film Brazil
Brazil (film)
Brazil is a 1985 British science fiction fantasy/black comedy film directed by Terry Gilliam. It was written by Gilliam, Charles McKeown, and Tom Stoppard and stars Jonathan Pryce. The film also features Robert De Niro, Kim Greist, Michael Palin, Katherine Helmond, Bob Hoskins, and Ian Holm...
. The interior featured as the ‘Department of Records’, a vast clerks pool where the character Sam Lowry worked, and the deserted corridors of the ‘Expediting Department’; the grim passageways and stairwells, as well as the exterior, served as ‘Shangri La Towers’, the Buttle family’s tower block
Tower block
A tower block, high-rise, apartment tower, office tower, apartment block, or block of flats, is a tall building or structure used as a residential and/or office building...
.
Derek Jarman's The Last of England
In 1987, British film-maker Derek JarmanDerek Jarman
Michael Derek Elworthy Jarman was an English film director, stage designer, diarist, artist, gardener and author.-Life:...
released his self-shot avant-garde
Avant-garde
Avant-garde means "advance guard" or "vanguard". The adjective form is used in English to refer to people or works that are experimental or innovative, particularly with respect to art, culture, and politics....
film The Last of England, which featured Millennium Mills as a key location. There was only one week of formal shooting for the film which occurred in November at the Royal Docks, an area Jarman described as "miles of desolation with the odd post-modern office building." In one scene it shows characters dancing on the roof of the empty Millennium Mills building.
British writer and psychogeographer
Psychogeography
Psychogeography was defined in 1955 by Guy Debord as "the study of the precise laws and specific effects of the geographical environment, consciously organized or not, on the emotions and behavior of individuals." Another definition is "a whole toy box full of playful, inventive strategies for...
, Iain Sinclair
Iain Sinclair
Iain Sinclair FRSL is a British writer and filmmaker. Much of his work is rooted in London, most recently within the influences of psychogeography.-Life and work:...
talks about the use of Millennium mills in Derek Jarman’s film, describing it as having “been christened by William Blake
William Blake
William Blake was an English poet, painter, and printmaker. Largely unrecognised during his lifetime, Blake is now considered a seminal figure in the history of both the poetry and visual arts of the Romantic Age...
and delivered by Albert Speer
Albert Speer
Albert Speer, born Berthold Konrad Hermann Albert Speer, was a German architect who was, for a part of World War II, Minister of Armaments and War Production for the Third Reich. Speer was Adolf Hitler's chief architect before assuming ministerial office...
"; the English Romantic poet and Adolf Hitler's chief architect. Sinclair goes on to call the mills "the perfect symbol for a cinematic endgame." In another piece of writing, Sinclair analyzes Jarman as a man who "saw the downriver reaches of Silvertown, with its abandoned flour mills, as a site for dervish
Dervish
A Dervish or Darvesh is someone treading a Sufi Muslim ascetic path or "Tariqah", known for their extreme poverty and austerity, similar to mendicant friars in Christianity or Hindu/Buddhist/Jain sadhus.-Etymology:The Persian word darvīsh is of ancient origin and descends from a Proto-Iranian...
dances and the rituals of a punk apocalypse
Apocalypse
An Apocalypse is a disclosure of something hidden from the majority of mankind in an era dominated by falsehood and misconception, i.e. the veil to be lifted. The Apocalypse of John is the Book of Revelation, the last book of the New Testament...
."
Jean-Michel Jarre's Destination Docklands
Jean-Michel Jarre had the Millennium Mills painted white as a surface for projection of lighting effects for his 1988 show Destination DocklandsDestination Docklands
Destination Docklands was an event consisting of two concerts by musician Jean Michel Jarre on the Royal Victoria Docks, Docklands, London on Saturday, October 8 and Sunday, October 9, 1988, to coincide with the release of Jarre's new album Revolutions...
. It formed one side of the backdrop, with the CWS mill in the centre and a screen supported by scaffolding on the other side. The concert coincided with the release of his album Revolutions which dealt with the theme of the industrial revolution
Industrial Revolution
The Industrial Revolution was a period from the 18th to the 19th century where major changes in agriculture, manufacturing, mining, transportation, and technology had a profound effect on the social, economic and cultural conditions of the times...
and the transition to the information age
Information Age
The Information Age, also commonly known as the Computer Age or Digital Age, is an idea that the current age will be characterized by the ability of individuals to transfer information freely, and to have instant access to knowledge that would have been difficult or impossible to find previously...
, themes that resonated with the abandoned docklands; Jarre described the event as "a concert dealing with architecture".
Other media
Millennium Mills was a recurring filming location for the British TV series Ashes to AshesAshes to Ashes (TV series)
Ashes to Ashes is a British science fiction and police procedural drama television series, serving as the sequel to Life on Mars.The series began airing on BBC One in February 2008. A second series began broadcasting in April 2009...
(2008–2010). It appears as one of the first locations in the series in Episode 1
Series 1: Episode 1 (Ashes to Ashes)
Episode 1 is the first episode of series 1 of the British science fiction/police procedural drama television series, which is the sequel to Life on Mars. It began broadcasting on BBC One on 7 February 2008.-Synopsis:...
. The show is set in the 1980s, and using the Mills sets the scene for the London landscape of the show before the construction of the Millennium Dome
Millennium Dome
The Millennium Dome, colloquially referred to simply as The Dome or even The O2 Arena, is the original name of a large dome-shaped building, originally used to house the Millennium Experience, a major exhibition celebrating the beginning of the third millennium...
dominated the East London skyline. At the start of the 1980s the industrial East End had yet to start its transformation at the hands of the London Docklands Development Corporation
London Docklands Development Corporation
The London Docklands Development Corporation was a quango agency set up by the UK Government in 1981 to regenerate the depressed Docklands area of east London. During its eighteen-year existence it was responsible for regenerating an area of in the London Boroughs of Newham, Tower Hamlets and...
, which was founded in 1981.
Most recently Millennium Mills was used as a location in the 2010 film Green Zone
Green Zone (film)
Green Zone is a 2010 American war thriller film written by Brian Helgeland and directed by Paul Greengrass. The film was inspired by the non-fiction 2006 book Imperial Life in the Emerald City by journalist Rajiv Chandrasekaran, which documented life in the Green Zone, Baghdad...
where the "desolate East London mill" provides the setting for Saddam Hussain's maze of underground tunnels and bunkers.
The mills also appear as the setting for a number of music video
Music video
A music video or song video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings...
s, including "Ask"
Ask (song)
Later re-releases of the "Ask" single would include the album version, which runs for 3:15, instead of the single version included on the original pressings.-Etchings on vinyl:UK 7" and 12":ARE YOU LOATHESOME TONIGHT? / TOMB IT MAY CONCERNGerman 12":...
by The Smiths
The Smiths
The Smiths were an English alternative rock band, formed in Manchester in 1982. Based on the song writing partnership of Morrissey and Johnny Marr , the band also included Andy Rourke and Mike Joyce...
(1986) filmed by Derek Jarman on the north side of Royal Victoria Dock, "Fluorescent Adolescent
Fluorescent Adolescent
- Chart performance :On downloads alone, "Fluorescent Adolescent" charted in the UK Singles Chart at #55 for the week commencing 25 June 2007. The song charted at number five upon release of the single on CD for the week commencing 16 July 2007. Since 27 June 2007, "Fluorescent Adolescent" has...
" by the Arctic Monkeys
Arctic Monkeys
Arctic Monkeys are an English indie rock band. Formed in 2002 in High Green, a suburb of Sheffield, the band currently consists of Alex Turner , Jamie Cook , Nick O'Malley and Matt Helders...
(2007), "Take Back the City
Take Back the City
"Take Back the City" is a song from alternative rock band Snow Patrol's fifth album A Hundred Million Suns. It was released as the lead single from the album on different dates in October 2008, depending on the region. The lyrics were written by Gary Lightbody and the music was composed by Snow...
" by Snow Patrol
Snow Patrol
Snow Patrol are an alternative rock band from Bangor, County Down, Northern Ireland. Formed at the University of Dundee in 1994 as an indie rock band, the band is now based in Glasgow...
(2008) and "Every Teardrop Is a Waterfall
Every Teardrop Is a Waterfall
"Every Teardrop Is a Waterfall" is a song by English alternative rock band Coldplay. It was released on 3 June 2011, as a digital download except in the United Kingdom where it was released on 5 June 2011. It was released as the lead single from their fifth studio album, Mylo Xyloto. The song...
" by Coldplay
Coldplay
Coldplay are a British alternative rock band formed in 1996 by lead vocalist Chris Martin and lead guitarist Jonny Buckland at University College London. After they formed Pectoralz, Guy Berryman joined the group as a bassist and they changed their name to Starfish. Will Champion joined as a...
(2011).
External links
- Millennium Mills photo essay at urbexforums.co.uk, Urban Exploration Forums. August 2009. Retrieved 15 June 2011.
- Spillers Millennium Mill / Rank Hovis Premier Mill, London – June 2010 - Derelict Places, "Short exploration of London's greatest derelict landmark" (2007)