Peat has been cut from the Fenn's and Whixall Mosses since at least the medieval period. It was used initially for fuel and distillation, then as bedding for horses and poultry, and for packing. Most recently it has been used for garden compost.

Industrial exploitation of the peat began in the late-nineteenth century. As part of this industry, the Fenn's Moss Peat Processing Works was built in 1938 by the Midland Moss Litter Company, replacing an earlier works destroyed by fire. The company processed 3000 tons of peat in 1954 but went into liquidation in 1962, when the works was taken over by L.S. Beckett. The works ceased operation in the early 1970s.

At the works, hand-cut peat blocks were crushed and sieved and passed via elevators through rotary screens to be pressed into bales. The output included 'dust' and 'throughs', both forms of fine granulated dry peat use in packing and cattle feed, and 'litter' and 'tailings', forms of coarse/medium granulated dry peat used for livestock bedding and deep-litter poultry systems. The product was also sold for horticultural use and `turf blocks? were sold for fuel.

The remains of the peat processing works are listed grade II* and are an exceptionally rare survival. The steel-framed shed and roof was originally clad and roofed in corrugated iron. It had 3 sliding steel doors , facing a tramway on the north side. Inside the floor is raised above surrounding ground level and much of the original machinery survives including a hammer mill and crusher, elevators, rotary screen and 3 balers (2 by Webster and Bickerton and one by Shirtliffe). Attached to the west end of the shed is a lean-to engine house clad in modern galvanised metal. Inside here a National heavy-oil engine and belt drives survive. Adjacent to the engine house is a steel platform retaining 3 cast iron 1000-gallon `Corporation Transport? tanks, 2 of which held water and the 3rd (and a 4th removed when the works closed) held fuel.

Louise Barker, RCAHMW, October 2015.

Sources:
Cadw Listed Building Description
Berry, A. & Gale F., 1996. Fenn's and Whixall Mosses (113-120).