Alwent Mill and Mill Race

ALWENT MILL AND MILL RACE, ALWENT MILL LANE

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Overview

Heritage Category:
Listed Building
Grade:
II
List Entry Number:
1121101
Date first listed:
04-Jul-1985
List Entry Name:
Alwent Mill and Mill Race
Statutory Address:
ALWENT MILL AND MILL RACE, ALWENT MILL LANE

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Location

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Date:
2007-03-21
Reference:
IOE01/14657/14
Rights:
© Mr Alan Bradley. Source: Historic England Archive

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Official list entry

Heritage Category:
Listed Building
Grade:
II
List Entry Number:
1121101
Date first listed:
04-Jul-1985
List Entry Name:
Alwent Mill and Mill Race
Statutory Address 1:
ALWENT MILL AND MILL RACE, ALWENT MILL LANE

The scope of legal protection for listed buildings

This List entry helps identify the building designated at this address for its special architectural or historic interest.

Unless the List entry states otherwise, it includes both the structure itself and any object or structure fixed to it (whether inside or outside) as well as any object or structure within the curtilage of the building.

For these purposes, to be included within the curtilage of the building, the object or structure must have formed part of the land since before 1st July 1948.

Understanding list entries

Corrections and minor amendments

The scope of legal protection for listed buildings

This List entry helps identify the building designated at this address for its special architectural or historic interest.

Unless the List entry states otherwise, it includes both the structure itself and any object or structure fixed to it (whether inside or outside) as well as any object or structure within the curtilage of the building.

For these purposes, to be included within the curtilage of the building, the object or structure must have formed part of the land since before 1st July 1948.

Understanding list entries

Corrections and minor amendments

Location

Statutory Address:
ALWENT MILL AND MILL RACE, ALWENT MILL LANE

The building or site itself may lie within the boundary of more than one authority.

District:
County Durham (Unitary Authority)
Parish:
Gainford
National Grid Reference:
NZ 14523 18368

Details

NZ 11 NW GAINFORD ALWENT MILL LANE (North side, off)

Alwent Mill and 5/87 mill race

II GV

Water-powered mill for grinding corn. Dated 1792 with later C19 alterations. Dressed sandstone with ashlar mill race; cast-iron and timber mill wheel; pantiled roof with triple course of sandstone flags at eaves of central section and single row to left section. 2 storeys, 4 bays. Single-bay left section and quoined, single-bay central section project and have boarded door to left and two blocked openings to right. 2-bay right section has central Dutch door with flat surround and lintel dated 1792; first floor has two boarded openings. Roof has slightly-projecting eaves and raised verge to left.

Mill race enters to rear of left return via a wooden sluice. Stream formerly drove a high breast-shot water wheel, over 4 metres in diameter, which worked three pairs of different grindstones. Small, oat-drying kiln in room above waterwheel.

Alwent Mill is one of the few watermills in County Durham with its machinery still in situ and it remained in use until about 1948.

Single-storey addition to left is not of special interest.

(Vera Chapman, Rural Durham, 1977).

Listing NGR: NZ1452318368

Legacy

The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.

Legacy System number:
111040
Legacy System:
LBS

Sources

Books and journals
Chapman, V, Rural Durham, (1977)

Legal

This building is listed under the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 as amended for its special architectural or historic interest.

Ordnance survey map of Alwent Mill and Mill Race

Map

This map is for quick reference purposes only and may not be to scale. This copy shows the entry on 10-Jul-2026 at 19:47:59.

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© Crown copyright [and database rights] 2026. OS AC0000815036. Use of this mapping is subject to Terms and Conditions.

End of official list entry

All text content is available under the Open Government Licence v3.0 , except where otherwise stated. Any supplied maps are © Crown Copyright [and database rights] 2026 OS AC0000815036 and may not be reproduced without permission.

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