History

Peat has a long history of exploitation on Fenns and Whixall Mosses, but its industrial exploitation began only in the late C19, and peaked after the middle of the C20 when it was used as a garden fertiliser.

Fenns Moss Peat Processing Works was built in 1938 by the Midland Moss Litter Company, replacing an earlier works destroyed by fire. The company processed 3000 tons of peat in 1954 but went into liquidation in 1962, when the works was taken over by L.S. Beckett. The works ceased operation in the early 1970s.

In the works, peat blocks were crushed or hammered, and the peat passed via elevators through rotary screens to be pressed into bales. Output included 'dust' and 'throughs', both forms of fine granulated dry peat use in packing and in cattle feed, and 'litter' and 'tailings', forms of coarse/medium granulated dry peat used for livestock bedding and deep-litter poultry systems.

Exterior

A steel-framed shed with lightly trussed steel roof of 9 bays. Originally clad and roofed in corrugated iron, it was entirely stripped of external covering at the time of inspection. The floor of the building is raised above surrounding ground level. On the N side, facing the former tramway, are 3 sliding steel doors. On the S side are steel steps to a single central former door. To the L of the S doorway is an outshut. A lean-to engine house against the W gable end is clad in modern corrugated galvanised metal. On its W side is a steel platform retaining 3 cast iron 1000-gallon tanks bearing the legend 'Corporation Transport', 2 of which held water and the 3rd (and a 4th removed when the works closed) held fuel.

Interior

The works retains most of its original machinery, which was belt driven from a National heavy-oil engine, which remains in situ. Surviving machinery comprises a hammer mill and a crusher, elevators, a rotary screen, and 3 balers, 2 by Webster & Bickerton, and one by Shirtliffe.

Reasons for Listing

Listed grade II* as an exceptionally rare surviving peat processing works, retaining its original machinery and within a well-preserved historic landscape.
Scheduled Ancient Monument FL182.

External Links

• Cadwr Listing
• Wikidata Q17744491

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

Recommended Books

• 
  Kent: West and the Weald: The Buildings of England (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Staffordshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  London 6: Westminster (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England): Westminster v. 6
• 
  Northumberland (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Sussex: West (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Sussex: East with Brighton and Hove (Buildings of England) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)