A HISTORIC mill has been put up for sale on the online auction site eBay for more than £1 million.
Bailiffs have been at the Grade II listed Rossett mill this week, seeking to repossess it from owner Mike Kilgannon, 68, who has looked after it for 40 years.
Mr Kilgannon said it was put up on the auction site before the repossession order as part of the bank’s demand that he do everything possible to sell it.
The mill is on ebay for £1.25million, but advertised for a straight sale rather than auction.
But local historians have raised their concerns over the future of the mill if Mr Kilgannon goes, and said they will demonstrate if necessary.
Laurie Hughes was chairman of the Association for the Restoration of Rossett’s Ancient Mill (ARRAM), a group of campaigners who helped save the mill from demolition in the early 1970s.
He said they were delighted with Mr Kilgannon’s care and work on the 16th Century mill, and feared what would happen if he was evicted and the mill went to new owners.
Mr Hughes said: “They can’t do much to the building as it’s listed but they might develop behind it, use the building as a front and go for a motel or something.”
The character of the site might be ruined, the mill might not be open to the public or may even stand empty, he said.
“I’ll give him any support I can,” Mr Hughes added. “There’d have been a motel there if it wasn’t for him. He’s done a really good job since he’s been there, he’s done everything we wanted.”
There was nothing they could do about Mr Kilgannon’s financial situation, he said, but they could campaign over the fate of the mill itself.
“We’re prepared to campaign all we need to to get as much publicity as we can, and maybe get the Welsh Office doing something about it.
“There are lots of local people who would be ready to do a demonstration, the old organisation is still there.”
Vic Tyler Jones, now president of Llay Historical Society, was another ARRAM campaigner in 1970.
He said a painting of the mill by William Turner hangs in the National Museum in Aberystwyth.
“We can’t afford to lose buildings like that. Whatever happens to it we want the mill to continue,” he said,
“No doubt an action group would be up and running again if the mill’s future comes under threat – with many of the same people.
“We managed to fight to save it once, we don’t want to have to do that again,” he added.
Mr Kilgannon has said he intends to stay in the property as long as possible.