Visitor Information
Opening Times - Milling Times - What Is On Offer - Where We Are
Admission Charges - Group Visits - Access Restrictions
The Mill is open to visitors from 10.00am to 4.00pm, Wednesday to Sunday all year (Christmas Day and Boxing Day excepted), plus Bank Holiday Mondays in season.
Click here for this month's milling times.
(Visitors who come when the Mill is not running, for whatever reason, receive a re-entry voucher for one further visit to the Tide Mill without charge.)
Almost all of the Tide Mill building is open to the public for view; 20 minute video presentation; interpretative displays; milling (when the tide is right - see above); 'treasure hunt' quiz for children with prize; friendly staff available to answer any questions; shop with our stoneground flour and biscuits for sale, along with a variety of souvenirs, books, local crafts, etc.; neighbouring Heritage Centre (currently free admission) with displays on the local area, Resources Room for local history research, and various temporary exhibitions; the Eling Creek Café for tea, coffee, snacks, etc.; walks along Bartley Water and to the shore of Southampton Water.
Eling Tide Mill is on the southern edge of the town of Totton & Eling, on the west side of the northern end of Southampton Water on the South Coast of Great Britain; it is approximately two miles west of Southampton in the county of Hampshire, just outside the New Forest.
By Road:
A map of the route to the Mill car park from Junction 2 of the M27 is available here. Please note that the car park is on the far side of the Tollbridge (the Mill's dam) from the Mill, and a toll (currently £1.00) is payable (collected by New Forest District Council, not Eling Tide Mill Trust) for taking a car over the Tollbridge. Following the indicated route on the map will take you around to the car park without crossing the Tollbridge, and it is then a 150m walk to the Mill; approaching the Mill through Totton itself will require crossing the Tollbridge to reach the car park, and require payment of the toll!
By Train
Totton has a railway station on the South West Trains line that runs from London Waterloo, through Southampton and Bournemouth, to Weymouth. Please note, though, that not all trains on this route stop at Totton Station. From the station it is a ten minute walk to the Mill; a map of the route from the station to the Mill is available here.
By Bus
Bus services run through Totton from Salisbury and Southampton. From the bus stops it is a ten minute walk to the Mill.
Admission charges to the Mill are currently:
| Adults | £2.30 | |
| Child | £1.30 | (Age 4+) |
| Senior | £1.80 | (60+) |
| Family | £6.00 | (2 adults/seniors + reasonable number of related children!) |
(Please note: Family Ticket includes a maximum of 3 quiz prizes - additional prizes 30p each.)
The Mill is happy to accept bookings from groups (including schools for all ages). Pre-booked groups of ten or more people may have (if they wish) a full guided tour around the Mill (the usual one lasts about an hour, though we can tailor this to suite a party's requirements), and benefit from a reduced group rate. Please contact us for further details or to make a booking.
We will occasionally take bookings for out-of-hours visits by groups who simply cannot come on the days or at the times we are open. We would ask potential visitors to appreciate, though, that there is only one Miller, and he does like the odd day off! Such out-of-hours visits - if available - have a minimum charge of £30.00 (or the actual group rate for the size of the party, whichever is higher).
The Tide Mill is a 230 year-old, rather cramped working site. While as much provision for visitors has been made as is possible given that the purpose of the site is to allow people to see what such mills were like, the nature of the building is such that we have to impose a few restrictions on visitors.
- Dogs, prams and pushchairs may be taken into the Mill Shop, but not the Mill itself. They may all be left in the shop (dogs preferably secured!) while the Mill is visited; we will usually be able to keep an eye on them, but it must be understood that this is at the owners' risk.
- Children must be accompanied by an adult and closely supervised at all times. Unaccompanied children are not allowed into the Mill.
- Shoes must be worn inside the Mill!
- We regret that there is wheelchair access (via a small ramp) to the Hurst (ground) floor only. The Bin Loft and the Stones Floor are only accessible via a staircase, though may be seen in the video presentation.
- Visitors with visual impairments should note that the Mill has very low, beamed ceilings.