Water Mill On Left Return Of Mill Batts Farmhouse

The water mill on the left return of Mill Batts Farmhouse is a corn-grinding mill that was formerly water-powered, dating from the late 18th century to early 19th century. It features a dressed stone plinth and narrow brickwork in English garden wall bond, with a ridged concrete roof on the main block and pantiles on the lean-to bay. The building is three storeys high with three bays, including a lower lean-to bay on the left return. It has a tall projecting plinth, a Dutch door on the right, and scattered sash and casement windows in altered openings. The steeply-pitched roof has a chimney stack at the right end. The lean-to bay has a segmental brick arch over the mill race, which formerly housed the water wheel in an ashlar-lined channel.

Inside, the mill wheel has been removed, but there is operational machinery by G. Hauxwell of Durham, dated 1863, and three pairs of grindstones in wooden cases on the first floor. There are 20th-century additions on the right bay and rear, and the farmhouse on the right return is not of special interest. The mill is still occasionally used, powered by a stationary engine.