A £1m contract to restore a listed watermill has been awarded to a local firm.

The William Scott Abbott Trust announced on Tuesday that it has awarded a £1 million contract to Messenger Construction.

The contract is to restore the trust’s 18th century Grade II* listed watermill located at Sacrewell, near to Wansford, Cambridgeshire.

The 10-month restoration project has just started, which is mainly funded by a £1.4m grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund. The project is costing a total of £1.7m and is also being part-funded by the trust.

Messenger Construction is a leading conservation and restoration builder based at Tinwell.

It won the William Scott Abbott Trust contract after a tender process against other specialist building firms from all over the UK.

Over the next 10 months Messenger will restore and help conserve the watermill, mill pond, mill house, bakery and mill gardens, as well as installing a hydro-electric turbine at the mill.

This turbine will feed electricity back into the National Grid.

The HLF funds will also assist in funding the project for the first three years, during which time two new jobs and a number of volunteering opportunities will be created.

Project officer Jane Harrison of The William Scott Abbott Trust said: “We are delighted to be working with such an experienced and professional local company.

“The project is a great opportunity to work together to ensure this nationally significant building remains operational for future generations.”

Managing director of Messenger Construction Paul Gibbons added: “We are very excited to have won this important restoration contract ‘on our doorstep’ and can’t wait to see the watermill in full working order again.”

Established in 2011, Messenger Construction specialises in quality conservation and construction, repair and renovation projects.

It has 28 full-time employees.