A FAMILIAR landmark on the Southampton skyline for the last 79 years has been the Solent Flour Mills, now operated by the Rank Hovis Company.

The mills, completed in October 1934, heralded the beginning of a new commercial life for Southampton Docks. It was the first building constructed on 200 acres of reclaimed land, set aside by Southampton Railways for industrial development that was to establish Southampton as a major centre of industry and commerce.

The construction of the mill was very much due to the drive and business acumen of Joseph Rank – the founder of Rank Hovis McDougall. In the early 1930s he proposed building a mill at Southampton, which was met with short shrift by his codirectors who did not think it necessary. Unperturbed he defiantly said to his colleagues “Very Well, I’ll do it on my own”

and, losing no time, he secured a site on the Southern Railway New Docks estate and set about building the most modern flour mill in the country.

The Solent Mill is now one of several sites owned by Rank Hovis throughout the county.