The Mill

Details

SK 19 69 PARISH OF ASHFORD IN THE WATER MILL LANE 11/56 (West Side) The Mill II

Former water-powered cornmill with integral drying kiln. C18 with C19 and C20 alterations. MATERIALS: Coursed rubble limestone with gritstone dressings and quoins. Stone slate roof covering laid to diminishing courses to mill building, and a pantile covering to the kiln, with louvred ridge vent. Gable end stacks. PLAN: L-shaped complex, with wheelpits to the gable ends of the north-south range, that to the south now the location of a water turbine. The drying kiln is located within the east-west range, to the north of the main mill race. EXTERIOR: North elevation of 2 stories, with an advanced wing to the right, and the former wheelpit abutting the gable base, made up of massive ashlar gritstone blocks. A tall gable 2-light mullioned window is set within a gritstone surround. Below, a decayed gritstone band course, and then the blocked aperture for the former water wheel shaft. The east side wall has quoining for a now lost opening and a small 4-pane window. The attached east-west range has a shallow segmental arch to a double doorway with plank doors located at the junction of the 2 ranges. To the left of the doorway is a shallow 2-light mullioned window. Above is a first floor taking-in doorway with plank doors and a fixed light window with glazing bars. This is set within a gablet which rises through the eaves, its upper part framed within squared gritstone masonry. Attached to the east gable is the drying kiln building with its louvred ridge vent, and extending from the north wall, a low single-storey addition with a gable chimney and a plain doorway to the right-hand corner. East elevation: the gable to the drying kiln has a low doorway and 2 windows to the right-hand side, both with punch-dressed surrounds and small-paned glazing, the larger window with diamond-shaped panes. The small extension has an 8 over 8-pane sash window. The kiln has a small shallow arch-headed window to its upper floor. To the left is an narrow 2 storey projection below a gablet and then a wider gable to north-south range with a 2-light mullioned window to its apex. At the base of the gable wall the former wheel shaft aperture now houses the main drive shaft from the turbine located in the former wheelpit. West elevation: this wall has 3 window openings, one a 2-light mullioned window, the others with small paned frames. INTERIOR: the interior of the mill has been much altered, with floor and partitions joinery of mainly late C19 date. One bridging beam has carved decoration of C17 appearance whilst other beams and posts or props are of variable quality. The upper floor has much C19 and C20 replacement timber and plank storage bins have been fitted in the north-south range. The mill complex retains its near-complete drying kiln with the kiln furnace and much of the drying floor made up of perforated tiles. MACHINERY: the mill was originally powered by 2 water wheels, but last operated by means of a Gilkes turbine, installed c.1900 and still in situ. This powered a main horizontal drive shaft linked to secondary gearing and drives to 3 pairs of millstones located on the south side of the east-west range. The secondary gearing, vertical shafts and stone nuts are housed within hurst framing set behind a planked partition with low access doors. The wheeled turbine control mechanism is set in front of this partition on the mill floor. A vertical shaft carries the drive to the upper floor, where it powers belt drives, line shafting and hoists. The stone nuts, and a first floor stone crane used to raise the upper of the 2 millstones are similar to those illustrated in 'A Treatise on Mills and Millwork' of c.1850 by the celebrated engineer William Fairbairn. 2 pairs of stones and their fittings survive at the north end of the north-south range.

REASONS FOR DESIGNATION DECISION

* Ashford Mill is of special architectural interest as a well-preserved example of an C18 and C19 water-powered corn mill.

* It retains evidence of successive phases of water-power technology and an in-situ water turbine, associated transmission and millstone.

*It retains its drying kiln, including the kiln furnace and much of the perforated tile floor to the kiln chamber.

Listing NGR: SK1983469515

Legacy

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

Legacy System number:

80486

Legacy System:

LBS

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.