Action needed to secure future of silo tower at Victoria Mills
Photo: Victoria Mills, Grimsby, Lincolnshire. Photo Credit: The Victorian Society.
Grade II-listed, 1889 and 1906, Sir William Gelder of Hull
Victoria Mills was built in phases between 1889 and 1906, and is comprised of a flour mill, grain silo, office block, and loading building. The bulk of the mill was converted for residential use in the 1990s, but for unknown reasons the silo was excluded from the redevelopment plans. This has caused significant structural problems, and some of the residents were made homeless this year, when the derelict silo had deteriorated to the extent that they threatened the structural integrity of the entire complex. The council recently stepped in to undertake urgent repairs and allow the residents to return home, but the owner has struggled to recoup the costs of this work from the owner, and the prospect of a more sustained investment seems unlikely. Failure to take action to secure the building in the long term will see the council being forced to carry out more emergency work in the future.
The Victorian Society Director, Christopher Costelloe, said: ‘I hope inclusion in the Top Ten will spur North East Lincolnshire Council and the owners to urgently find a way to bring the silo tower at Victoria Mills back into use. The Council was right to take emergency action but a long term plan is needed. Retaining historic buildings like those in the Top Ten is vital to maintaining local identity and creating places in which people want to invest, live and work. At a time when Associated British Ports its demolishing some of the world’s greatest industrial fishing heritage in Grimsby this is more important than ever’.
Status Update / March 2026
In 2017, there were concerns that the silo was about to collapse, damaging the recently redeveloped mill building in the process. Demolition was considered, along with other high-impact interventions such as reducing the height of the tower. Fortunately, a different approach was adopted, and the building was restored with a £2 million grant from the local council. It is now projected to stand for another hundred years. The issue now is bringing it back into use. The owner should either sell the silo tower or reapply for planning permission for conversion to residential, the existing permission having expired.