ESSEX University students will host a free conference to excite the public about historic site Bourne Mill.

With funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund Essex, second year History students and volunteers have helped uncover the real spirit and history of the Colchester mill, which spans more than 400 years.

It is a grade one listed building from the late Elizabethan era and was converted into a mill within the 19th century.

The project began in spring this year in collaboration with the National Trust and students’ own original academic work.

During the conference on January 16 heritage experts and students, which includes two graduates who were recruited to oversee the project, will reveal more about their groundbreaking work.

There will be talks on Bourne Mill’s key role in the local cloth industry, how it was a banqueting lodge for Colchester’s elite and how future visitors might be using pedal-power to learn more about the town’s working heritage.

This is alongside site visits, reconstruction activities and much more.

Student Abigayle Cockett is completing the public history project module as part of her degree programme and called the place a “hidden gem”.

She said: “It’s just amazing. I’m excited about the conference because it’s going to be of great interest to myself as I love the mill and want to know more about its history. It’s also getting different institutions and bodies in Colchester actively engaged while giving the general public a chance to get a greater appreciation of the place.”

Bourne Mill: A Window onto Colchester’s Working Past is at the University of Essex’s Colchester campus between 10am and 4pm.