Condition survey and repair proposals for Melin Daron, a derelict Grade II listed mill building in Aberdaron

The roof of Melin Daron, a derelict Grade II listed mill building in Aberdaron, on the Llŷn Peninsula in northwest Wales, had succumbed to leakages over two decades, which left some structural timbers exposed to the elements with some section decayed beyond repair. Mortar joints to the mill building’s exterior walls had almost perished with sections of the internal walls of the corn dryer section partially collapsed, leaving the structure in a precarious situation. In the short term some of the most important structural timber elements had to be repaired, along with repointing masonry and patch repairing the roof with a limited pot of money secured by the client while they sourced a larger funding pot through the National Lottery Heritage Fund (NLHF) to fully repair and preserve this unique building in the long term. This paper seeks to explain the thinking behind the steps taken to make the mill building weathertight while preserving and sympathetically altering historic details that give its unique character. It examines the identification and assessment of defects, before considering various options for conservation and repair.