The owner is delighted for HMG to help him take
positive action to ensure the conservation of the mill. HMG’s role will be to
clean up the mill, undertake minor repairs to the fabic and machinery in
consultation with him, and generally make it presentable to and safe for
visitors.
Visitor access will be limited, and possibly
restricted to pre-booked special interest groups.
HMG has undertaken to produce a guidebook/leaflet,
which will be written in consultation with Dr. Parr.
The water supply to the mill was cut off many years
ago, but the course of its headrace and tailrace is evident in the 1871 OS map.
The watermill is an integral part of a large timber
frame and timber clad staddle barn that was built about the time of the
parliamentary enclosure award for the parish, 1790. It has 2 threshing floors,
and the watermill building is attached to the barn next to one of these. It is
evident that a fixed threshing drum was installed on part of the latter’s floor.
The drive to it was taken from he waterwheel’s great spurwheel and this remains,
its shaft cut off at the point where it enters the barn. This arrangement is
similar to that at Hockley Mill, built in 1804.
The watermill gearing is principally made of wood,
and survives largely complete and in reasonably good condition. It is of the
conventional 2-stage great spurwheel type. One set of underdriven millstones
remains. The upper spurwheel carries drives for a sackhoist and ancillary
machinery.
The internal waterwheel had a mid-breast feed. It is
all-wood and of compass arm construction; the axle, arm and felloes remain
complete and over half of its floats are still in situ.
Gavin Bowie,
10 March 2009
Photos By
Nigel Smith
