Laverstoke Mill is a former paper mill located on the

River Test The River Test is a chalk stream in Hampshire in the south of England. It rises at Ashe near Basingstoke and flows southwards for to Southampton Water. Settlements on the Test include the towns of Stockbridge and Romsey. Below the village of ...

Laverstoke Laverstoke is a village in north west Hampshire, England. In the early 18th century, Laverstoke Mill was purchased by the Portals, a family of Huguenot immigrants from Languedoc who were establishing a successful paper making business. Henry de ...

near Overton, in England. The mill complex contains three grade II listed buildings: the Mill House, Mill Cottages, and the Glazing House. After a major refurbishment between 2011 and 2013, the mill is now the distillery and visitor centre for

Bombay Sapphire Bombay Sapphire is a brand of gin that is distilled by the Bombay Spirits Company, a subsidiary company of Bacardi, at Laverstoke Mill in the village of Laverstoke in the English county of Hampshire. The brand was first launched in 1986 by En ...

gin. Laverstoke Mill is recorded as far back as the

Doomsday Book Domesday Book () – the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book" – is a manuscript record of the "Great Survey" of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 by order of King William I, known as William the Conqueror. The manusc ...

in 1086, in which a

corn mill A gristmill (also: grist mill, corn mill, flour mill, feed mill or feedmill) grinds cereal grain into flour and middlings. The term can refer to either the grinding mechanism or the building that holds it. Grist is grain that has been separate ...

is recorded as being on the site. The site was leased by Henry Portal in 1718 and converted into a paper mill, becoming part of the Portals business. In the 1720s, Portal obtained the contract for the supply of paper to the Bank of England for use in

banknote A banknote—also called a bill (North American English), paper money, or simply a note—is a type of negotiable promissory note, made by a bank or other licensed authority, payable to the bearer on demand. Banknotes were originally issued ...

s, and the production of paper for currency and other secure uses would become the main use of the site. The site was expanded in 1842, and again in 1881, to allow for increased production. In 1860, new buildings, including the large India House, were built for a contract for the supply of paper for the

Indian Rupee The Indian rupee ( symbol: ₹; code: INR) is the official currency in the republic of India. The rupee is subdivided into 100 ''paise'' (singular: ''paisa''), though as of 2022, coins of denomination of 1 rupee are the lowest value in use w ...

. By the start of the 20th century, Laverstoke had become old fashioned and inefficient in comparison to other mills. In a report of 1920, Sir William Portal commented ‘economy is a difficult word to introduce into Laverstoke Mills’. Instead, between 1920 and 1922, the company built a new mill, Overton Mill, in the nearby village of Overton. From the 1930s, Laverstoke increasingly specialised in research and development in the fields of engineering, manufacture and security. Paper making ceased at the site in 1963, and in 1972, the site was taken over by Patterson Candy, a subsidiary company who used it for the manufacture of water treatment equipment. Portals were taken over by De La Rue in 1995 and the site became vacant in 2005. The mill was purchased by the Bombay Spirits Company in 2010. The new owners refurbished the site, reusing existing buildings for distilling and a visitor centre, cafe, bar and shop. New glasshouses, designed by the

Heatherwick Studio Thomas Alexander Heatherwick, (born 17 February 1970) is an English designer and the founder of London-based design practice Heatherwick Studio. He works with a team of around 200 architects, designers and makers from a studio and workshop in ...

, were constructed to display examples of the plants used for the gin botanicals. The River Test, which had been covered over as the mill expanded, was opened out to become a feature of the site again.

Gallery

File:Laverstoke - Laverstoke Mill - geograph.org.uk - 2051349.jpg, The gatehouse before renovation, 2010 File:Bombay Sapphire distillery.jpeg, The River Test with shop and bar to left, visitor centre ahead, 2015 File:Laverstoke Mill now used as a distillery.jpg, India House, housing the stills ''Victoria'' and ''Henry'', 2016 File:The Thomas Heatherwick Extension, Laverstoke Mill - geograph-5136220.jpg, The glasshouses with visitor centre to left, 2016 File:Laverstoke Mill and River Test (geograph 7133030).jpg, The glasshouses and the River Test, 2022

References

External links

Laverstoke Mill on Bombay Sapphire web site
{{Authority control Distilleries in England Grade II listed buildings in Hampshire Watermills in Hampshire

Gallery

See also

References

External links