A Warmer Holme for Jordan’s Mills − Courtesy of Selectaglaze

Holme Mills

Standing on the banks of the River Iver, Holme Mills was first mentioned in the Domesday Book and was one of Bedfordshire’s major producers of animal feed and flour. In the 19th century the Mills suffered two catastrophic fires, presenting the owners, the Jordan family, with the chance to completely rethink their traditional working methods replacing the original millstones with a more efficient metal roller system and the waterwheel with a water turbine in    the new four-storey premises.

From the early 1970’s the Mills produced the famous Jordans breakfast bars and cereals but recently a new mill was built nearby thus allowing the original Holme Mills to be refurbished and restored and a new Visitor Centre constructed to provide a riverside café, meeting rooms and a Mill Store.

As part of this refurbishment the original metal framed windows needed to be fully overhauled and made thermally efficient, in order to provide a more comfortable environment.  As it was not possible to replace the windows the solution to this problem was secondary glazing. The secondary glazing had to respect the original window design and so a slim hinged casement with flush colour matched hinges and flush lock was specified.

Selectaglaze was chosen to carry out this work using their slim line Series 45 system, one of four hinged systems in the company’s range. Each window is bespoke and fitted with close tolerance to exclude draughts and reduce heat loss in the region of 50%.

The Mill’s water turbine

Visitors to the building can now view the magnificent machinery and get a good understanding of the workings of the Mill in a very comfortable environment.