Mill boon A co-living community designed for long life

It took 13 years to turn a historic building into eco-friendly co-housing, planned to see its members into older age

- Anita Chaudhuri

'Look at this can you see what it is?" The architect Anne Thorne is showing me around Cannock Mill, L the eco-village on the outskirts of Colchester, Essex, that she designed in collaboration with a group of her friends who had grown tired of London life. We are standing behind a terrace of terracotta and honey-toned houses; even on a dreich day, the 1-hectare site has a distinctly Mediterranean vibe. There are well-tended grounds, a communal allotment and a fire pit. 

Thorne gesticulates at a tiny path. "It's a frog passerelle," she enthuses. "So frogs can get safely to the mill pond down there." I can't see any amphibious commuters, but Claudine and Piaf, the community chickens, are scrabbling around. There are three buzzing beehives, too.

Cannock Mill is the UK's first cohousing community aimed at tackling the climate crisis and loneliness in later life.

When it comes to climate-considerate building development, the details make the difference. Thorne points out a rainwater pipe that flows on to porous tarmac - a tank underneath catches the overflow, which then runs into a flower garden and finally down into the pond. "No surface water goes into drainage, so we get a reduction in our water rates."

There is a note of quiet reverence in her voice, as if each item she is showing me is nothing short of a miracle. This is understandable when you discover that it took 13 years of dreaming, financial peril and hard graft to turn the vision into reality.

We head into the Grade II-listed mill, which has been converted into a three-storey social hub for the 30 homeowners, who range in age from 60 to 83. The top floor serves as the communal sitting room. It is here that I meet some of the other "millers" (as they are known locally) for coffee.