The Mill at Sonning
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The Mill at Sonning is a theatre and restaurant (or dinner theater), converted from a circa-1800 flour mill on earlier foundations,[1] on an island in the River Thames at Sonning Eye in the English county of Berkshire.[2]
The river divides into three, with the mill race forming the middle branch, spanned by one of the Sonning Backwater Bridges just downstream of the mill. The original mill was established much earlier and was mentioned in the Domesday Book. During the 19th and early 20th centuries, the mill was owned by the well-known local families of May[3] and Witherington, and it produced flour for Huntley and Palmer biscuits in the nearby town of Reading. More recently, the Mill complex has been converted into a 215-seat air-conditioned theatre, with a restaurant for pre-theatre meals and also a bar, where the original watermill is now exposed to view. Close by is the French Horn hotel, also on the river.
The theatre has a small hydroelectric generator of 18.5 kW capacity, commissioned in June 2005. This was the first such installation on the Thames, predating the one at Windsor Castle. In 1984, the Mill at Sonning was given a conservation award by The Times newspaper and the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors for the design, restoration and conversion of the derelict mill into a dinner theatre.[citation needed]
The theatre's first artistic director was Peter Egan.[citation needed] Productions have included performances by Anthony Valentine, Judi Dench, June Whitfield, Adam Faith, Michael Denison, Dulcie Gray, John Junkin and Brian Cant.
The Mill adjoins the Mill House,[4] a circa-1800 house based on earlier foundations,[5] acquired by the American film actor George Clooney and his wife, British human rights lawyer Amal Clooney, in 2014.[6][7]
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ Historic England. "Sonning Theatre/Mill - Eye & Dunsden (1180977)". National Heritage List for England.
- ^ "The Mill at Sonning". TripAdvisor. Retrieved 11 October 2014.
- ^ Ford, David Nash (2001). "Sonning Mill: Grinding Corn on a Mid-Thames Island". UK: mayfamilyhistory May Family History]. Retrieved 11 October 2014.
- ^ Alexander, Ella (10 October 2014). "George Clooney and Amal Alamuddin choose Berkshire as their first home". The Independent. Archived from the original on 18 June 2022.
- ^ Historic England. "Details from listed building database (1047410)". National Heritage List for England.
- ^ "Updated: Hollywood star George Clooney and wife Amal Alamuddin eye Sonning home". The Reading Chronicle. 9 October 2014.
- ^ Sawer, Patrick (10 October 2014). "Welcome to Sonning, Mr & Mrs Clooney". The Daily Telegraph.