Site Event/Activity record ECH4901 - Zan Mill ~ Assessment for inclusion on the List of Buildings of Special Architectural or Historic Interest

Zan Mill was previously included (under the name Wheelock Mill) within the thematic Staffordshire Textile Mill Survey of 1996 (this is a miss-reference to the East Cheshire Textile Mill Survey (2)) with a positive recommendation to list, although the work was never taken through to the designation stage. The mill is located just outside the Trent and Mersey Canal Conservation Area, but is included on the Local Authority's list of locally important buildings. Zan Mill is clearly a building of local interest, as recognised by its inclusion on the Local Authority's list of locally important buildings. However, within a national context it does not possess the special architectural or historic interest required to qualify for listing for the following principal reasons: * Architecture: It is modest and utilitarian in character and its architectural interest has been compromised by later alteration * Exterior intactness: It has incurred significant alteration externally, including altered openings, a replaced and heavily truncated chimney, an altered engine house, and the loss of the original boiler house * Evidence of process & internal alteration: All the mill's original machinery, drives and shaft boxes have been removed and it is no longer possible to understand how the mill originally operated from the physical fabric of the building (1)