SHREWSBURY FLAXMILL MALTINGS

When the site opened in 1797, Britain was roaring into a new age of iron and steam. In Shrewsbury, local merchants the Benyon Brothers, Yorkshire businessman John Marshall, and engineer Charles Bage – set out to solve one of the biggest threats to industrial factories: fire. Their solution was groundbreaking. They designed a building framed with iron instead of wood, paving the way for the skyscrapers of today.

For more than a century, the mill was alive with noise, heat and hard labour as hundreds of workers – many of them children – tended vast spinning machines. The building later found new life as a maltings and also as an army barracks during the Second World War.

Today, hands-on activities, interactive displays and fascinating original objects help bring the past to life allowing you to explore this extraordinary survivor of Britain’s industrial past. The on-site cafe is open 9.00 am - 5.00 pm, 7 days a week.

Severn Bridges Multi-Academy Trust fosters a collaborative "family" of schools in Shropshire, prioritising community, diversity, and inclusion. The Trust preserves each school’s unique identity while driving collective growth, building connections and providing a holistic environment where every child thrives.

The Trust’s art displays in the Dye House are a joint project between the curriculums for Art and RE, with each school contributing work that explores religion, culture, and spiritual expression.

Exhibition Dates and Times:

July 11th-12th (10-4), 13th-17th (9.30-3.30), 18th-20th (10-4), 21st (10-1)

Short Wood Primary: Impressions of Religion, collective art works by each year group
Greenfields: large collaborative pieces, include teepees, prayer mats, tiles, stained-glass–inspired windows, a fabric artwork, and clay pieces.
Radbrook: individual drawings, prayer mat designs, and work themed Walking with God: A Journey in Colour.
Mount Pleasant: four large pieces—one from each phase.
Sundorne Infant and Nursery, and Harlescott Junior: Multicultural Impressions, exploring how different cultures express themselves through art, belief, and tradition.