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This former flour mill, on the canalside at Macclesfield, was the original home of Hovis™ flour. It was originally built in 1831 for a canal carrying company. In 1898 the mill was bought by the flour millers who founded the Hovis Bread Flour Company.

Stoney Richard Smith conceived the idea of extracting the highly nutritious wheatgerm from the wheat, lightly cooking it to preserve the nutrients, then putting back into the flour many times more wheatgerm than it originally contained. This flour was known as 'Smith's Patent Germ Flour' and the bread produced from it 'Smith's Patent Germ Bread'. Smith patented his process In October I887 and teamed with a firm of millers in Macclesfield, S. Fitton & Sons Ltd, joining their Board.

The less cumbersome name “Hovis”, a contraction of the Latin couplet 'Homonis Vis' (the strength of man) was adopted and registered as a Trade Mark in 1890. The Name of the company was changed to 'The Hovis Bread Flour Company' in 1898 and ‘Hovis Limited' was launched as a public company in 1918. The Hovis™ Trade Mark is registered throughout the world. Only bakers who used this flour to make their bread could sell the loaf as Hovis™.

Flour was milled at the Hovis Mill in Macclesfield from 1898 to 1904. However, the product was so successful that the milling only took place here for 6 years, by which time it was necessary to move to larger premises as the business had outgrown the mill and was moved to Trafford Park in Manchester. However, this mill was retained for the production of the paper wrappers in which the loaves are commonly sold.

By the 1990s the mill had become unused and dilapidated but was saved from demolition; being refurbished and converted into residential apartments.

Link A potted history of Hovis™
Link The Macclesfield Canal