An £11.6m funding application to regenerate Shrewsbury’s eighteenth-century Flax Mill Maltings for public and commercial use will be submitted to the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) by the end of March.

The site comprises seven listed buildings and includes the Main Mill, which was built in 1797 and was the world’s first iron-framed building and the forerunner of the modern skyscraper.

Other buildings to be renovated include the Kiln, the Dye, Stove House and the office and stables.

The site is now a visitor attraction and hosts a number of exhibitions each year.

Project architects Fielden Clegg Bradley have been developing plans for the site over the past 10 months following initial HLF of £465,300 awarded in May 2012.

HLF will make a decision on the funding bid in July and, if approved, work to renovate buildings would begin in September, opening to the public in 2016.

Image: Shropshire Council