Padley Mill: a question of interpretation

Abstract

The transformation into a house of an old mill from the mid- eighteen century in Padley Gorg, within the now known as Peak District National Park in the vicinity of Sheffield, UK, has raised a significant number of the problems of conservation and restauration of ancient industrial heritage, focused and concentrated in a single building. To restore and maintain the property as a museum or to make a significant change of use were some of the dilemmas faced by the author. After the final decision, the architectural work revealed as laborious, unexpected in its pre-existing conditions and opposed to any attempt of developing a personal style. The result is a hybrid building which shows its historical layers and, although modified, clearly better preserved than without any intervention at all.