Nether Alderley Mill And Dam Wall

This is a late 16th-century water mill, with machinery added in 1850 and 1871, and restored between 1967 and 1970 for the National Trust. It is constructed of ashlar buff-pink sandstone with a Kerridge stone-slate roof and stone ridge. The rectangular mill plan is designed so that water enters at roof level. The west front features a long cat-slide roof with four louvred raking dormers. A low wall has three openings, including a four-board door with iron strap hinges, approached by three stone steps. The gables have herringboned timber trusses. A rebated four-light chamfered stone mullion (with one mullion remaining) is on the left side, and a chamfered stone doorcase is on the right side.

Inside, the mill has four levels, with two massive oak posts passing through them to support arch-braced queen post roof trusses, with wind-braced purlins and ridge. It contains two overshot water wheels, one above the other, along with the remaining working machinery to drive two pairs of French stones. Attached to the south is a complex of brick-vaulted chambers, originally a drying kiln, with a perforated floor now concreted over.

Immediately behind the mill, and linked by the penstock, is the contemporary ashlar dam wall.