Sopwell Mill
SOPWELL MILL, COTTONMILL LANE
Listed on the National Heritage List for England. Search over 400,000 listed places
Overview
- Heritage Category:
- Listed Building
- Grade:
- II
- List Entry Number:
- 1245424
- Date first listed:
- 23-Nov-1998
- List Entry Name:
- Sopwell Mill
- Statutory Address:
- SOPWELL MILL, COTTONMILL LANE
Have you got a photo to share?
Join the Missing Pieces Project. We want you to share your photos and memories.
Location
Location of this list entry and nearby places that are also listed. Use our map search to find more listed places.
Use of this mapping is subject to terms and conditions .
This map is for quick reference purposes only and may not be to scale.
What is the National Heritage List for England?
The National Heritage List for England is a unique register of our country's most significant historic buildings and sites. The places on the list are protected by law and most are not open to the public.
The list includes:
 |
Buildings |
 |
Scheduled monuments |
 |
Parks and gardens |
 |
Battlefields |
 |
Shipwrecks |
Local Heritage Hub
Unlock and explore hidden histories, aerial photography, and listed buildings and places for every county, district, city and major town across England.
Discover moreOfficial list entry
- Heritage Category:
- Listed Building
- Grade:
- II
- List Entry Number:
- 1245424
- Date first listed:
- 23-Nov-1998
- List Entry Name:
- Sopwell Mill
- Statutory Address 1:
- SOPWELL MILL, COTTONMILL 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.
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.
Location
- Statutory Address:
- SOPWELL MILL, COTTONMILL LANE
The building or site itself may lie within the boundary of more than one authority.
- County:
- Hertfordshire
- District:
- St. Albans (District Authority)
- Parish:
- Non Civil Parish
- National Grid Reference:
- TL 15282 06053
Details
TL 10 NE
575/24/10036
COTTONMILL LANE
Sopwell Mill
II
Former water-powered corn mill and attached dwelling, now house and office. Mid-late C19, with c. 1900 extension and minor C20 alterations. Buff-brown brick with red brick detailing, end and ridge stacks with corbelled caps and Welsh-slated roof coverings.
PLAN: linear arrangement of mill and mill house, with water course and wheelpit to east end of site.
FRONT (north) ELEVATION: Mill of 3 bays and 3 storeys to east, and 3 bay house of 2 storeys to west. Mill part with gabled sack hoist canopy to centre bay, above single first floor doorway and ground floor double door. Red brick storey band at hoist canopy bracket level and between ground and first floor window openings. Windows to flanking bays with metal frames, 4 by 4 panes, set below shallow segmentally-arched heads. Single storeyed extension extends northwards from east side of mill. House part with central doorway with plain boarded door below shallow bracketed hood.. Flanking the doorway are 3-light transomed windows with timber casements, those to the ground floor beneath shallow segmental arches, those to the first floor with stone heads above the eaves line, within gables with plain barge boards. Off-centre ridge stack to right.
REAR ELEVATION : Tall central doorway to mill with flanking windows. 3 windows to first floor, smaller window to centre of upper floor. House part with single storey rear lean- to with C20 window joinery.
SIDE (east) ELEVATION: Tall gable with 2 low windows to upper and single first floor opening . Against ground floor wall, a wide, 3 segment low breast water wheel with socketed outer and intermediate cast iron wheel frames with sheet metal buckets bolted to timber bearers carried by the sockets. Rack and pinion gear attached to timber sluice gateway on north side of wheelpit.
INTERIOR: Mill building with late C19 tension braced metal roof trusses supporting single purlin roof. Timber floors now supported by metal beams set on shallow side wall piers. Stone floor ( first floor) with 3 pairs of stones, but no associated machinery or fittings. Steep open tread stair set within boarded compartments at west end of mill. Ground floor with primary and secondary drives within end compartment enclosed by timber screen. Metal gear wheel attached to water wheel shaft engages bevel gearing to drive secondary shaft with further bevel gearing providing power for vertical shafts driving stones above. House part with panelled doors, moulded architraves and plain stick baluster stair.
A near complete example of a mid C19 water-powered corn mill with attached dwelling , retaining its water wheel and primary and secondary drive machinery.
Listing NGR: TL1528206053
Legacy
The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.
- Legacy System number:
- 471713
- Legacy System:
- LBS
Legal
This building is listed under the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 as amended for its special architectural or historic interest.
Map
This map is for quick reference purposes only and may not be to scale. This copy shows the entry on 28-Jun-2026 at 05:08:07.
Download a full scale map (PDF)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.