For whom the bell tolls: hunt for missing piece of Shrewsbury’s industrial history

The Flaxmill Maltings building is known as the grandparent of the skyscraper. Photograph: Steven Baker/Historic England Archive, Steven Baker

For almost 200 years, the bell tolled to mark the start and end of the working day at one of the UK’s most remarkable industrial sites – but it vanished when the buildings became derelict in the late 1980s or early 90s.

As English Heritage prepares to welcome visitors to the Flaxmill Maltings building in Shrewsbury, Shropshire, a hunt for the missing bell has been launched.