The River Test, Source to Sea, a Journey
Day two of our journey is at Laverstock, by the Bombay Sapphire Gin Distillery. If you are not able to visit all the sites along the Test with us do not worry. You can join for one off trips, keep up with photos on Facebook and at #rivertestsourcetosea on Instagram. Contact me for more information, Kate Measham
Monday 6th February, Laverstock Mill, home to Bombay Sapphire Gin.
£25/day plus entrance fee 10.30am – 4.00pm
Meet in the car park at 10.30am There is a coffee and snack van on site. We can park and enjoy the view for free but if you want to go into the buildings, see the Thomas Heatherwick greenhouse and the distillery then you need to pay an entrance fee. I would recommend the visit.
Everyone needs to secure their own ticket and confirm they are over 18. bombaysapphire visit
The Bombay Sapphire Gin Distillery
The second leg of our journey is at the Distillery just below Overton at Laverstock, (more about the history of the mill is below). The clear waters of the Test race through the Distillery and are part of the gin making process. This industrial use of the Test waters follows on from the rural idyll we saw in January.
LAVERSTOKE MILL
In renovating Laverstoke Mill, Bombay Sapphire has taken the utmost care to preserve the natural ecology and heritage of the site. To build a long-term legacy at Laverstoke Mill, Bombay Sapphire has also committed to building a sustainable future. The award-winning sustainability measures in design and construction are at the heart of this state-of-the art distillery.
HERITAGE
There has been a Mill on site in Laverstoke since at least 903 AD but the first official records show Laverstoke Mill as a corn mill marked in the Domesday Book of 1086. In 1719 A French Huguenot called Henry Portal leased Laverstoke Mill and converted it to make the finest quality hand-made paper…
RE-DEVELOPMENT
Transforming a 300 year old paper Mill with over 1000 years of history within a Conservation Area and a Site of Special Scientific Interest took patience and dedication. Working with Heatherwick Studio, Bombay Sapphire sympathetically renovated Laverstoke Mill into a sustainable distillery that showcases the natural beauty and industrial heritage of the site…
SUSTAINABILITY
In building a modern distillery at Laverstoke Mill every reasonable effort has been made to ensure the processes and buildings are as sustainable and efficient as possible. In recognition of this the distillery has been awarded the highly prestigious BREEAM Award for Industrial Design in 2014…
NATURAL BEAUTY
The Bombay Sapphire distillery at Laverstoke Mill is situated within a Conservation Area and Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in rural Hampshire. The River Test flows through the site creating unique wetland habitat throughout the distillery. The Test is the purest chalk-stream in the UK with many native species inhabiting the river and surrounding wetlands including…
