MORE than 130 people attended drop-in consultation sessions this week to see progress made on restoring Wellington’s historic Toneworks site and to give their views on what could be done with it.

The former ‘wet finishing’ centre in Milverton Road for the nearby Fox Bros woollen mill is where cloth was dyed, washed, and dried.

It closed in the late 1990s and was bought in 2020 by the former Somerset West and Taunton Council (SWT), which said the derelict site was of national industrial heritage significance.

Today, Somerset Council is currently using a £20 million Government grant to make the buildings watertight before considering how to restore the site.

The town’s Thread architects has been leading on design work for the site and this week held a series of three drop-in sessions in its Eliza House premises for people to see the plans and say what they would like to happen to it.

Thread associate and heritage researcher Vanessa Ruhlig said the sessions attracted a wide range of ages and representatives of community organisations with an ‘overwhelmingly positive’response.

Ms Ruhlig said: “There is a clear desire for the site to be shared with the community, through the creation of gallery spaces, markets, artists, and makers.

“It was also reassuring to see how many people want to see the site used for wildlife and biodiversity enhancement, celebrating the presence of a wide variety of bat species, dormice, and otters.

“We see this as an opportunity rather than a constraint, one of many features which make Toneworks special.

“Many people reiterated how important Toneworks is for the people of Wellington, with so many having a relative who once worked there.

“We are hoping that people will come forward to share their memories and stories of their time at Toneworks, as we are very aware that these memories are disappearing.”