Between 1818 and 1821 a partnership was formed to mill, bake, and deal in grain, and a four-storeyed brick steam mill was built in 1818 on the north bank of the Shrewsbury Canal.

The mill, generally known as Donnington Wood mill, closed in the 1970s. (ref. http://www.british-history.ac.uk)

Four bitter years of trouble followed during which local charter master used a much more economical railway built by John Bishton in 1796, which ran parallel to the Shropshire Canal.