Shopping at the Mill

A beautiful Grade II listed building with a fascinating history is home to an eclectic and exciting shopping experience in this week's favourite Google Street View Business virtual tour.

Chesapeake Mill is named after HMS Chesapeake, a United States Navy frigate whose timbers were used in the construction of the watermill in 1820. Not only is it a grand building brimming with history, the interior is bursting with a treasure trove of antiques, crafts, and other wonderful curios waiting to catch the eye and tempt the purse.



Vintage Treasures

Find Chesapeake Mill in a pretty setting - front door framed by bay trees, river and weeping willow trees beyond - in the Hampshire market town of Fareham. A working corn mill until 1976, it's alive today with a collection of no less than forty four specialist traders displaying their vintage wares over two of the spacious floors.

Pub signs, chandeliers, wooden furniture, soft furnishings, jewellery, clothes, jams and pickles, china, toys, classic books and modern greetings cards and gifts are just some of the rich patchwork of treasures and trinkets to wander amongst, browse and buy.

Encased in History

The history of the building is visible throughout, with its stone walls and sturdy ship's timbers overhead - some apparently still showing the marks of battle shrapnel fire.

If you've an appetite for history, you can find out more about Chesapeake Mill's past in the Heritage Room with information boards and exhibits, or stop for a quiet minute to read the names of the ship's fallen on the memorial board at the foot of the stairs.




Refreshing

And for appetites of another kind, if you're looking to rest and refresh your retail enthusiasm, sit and enjoy delicious food and drinks in the wonderful timber-walled cafe serving gluten-free and vegan fare, and with a view over the river outside.

Find Chesapeake Mill at Bridge Street, Fareham, Hampshire PO17 5JH. Tel. 01329 834078. Look them up on www.thechesapeakemill.com, Facebook and Twitter.

Date: 25 November 2016
Author: The 360 Company