Short Street Mill The Old Millstone Inn

The Old Millstone Inn and the adjoining cottages at Nos. 2, 4, and 6 Short Street are a former silk mill that has been converted into residential units and a public house. This building dates from the early 19th century, with extensions and the public house constructed around 1840 to 1850. It is built of brick and features stone-flagged and Welsh slate roofs.

The former mill faces Short Street and is two storeys high at the front, rising to four storeys at the rear. The upper two storeys are now used as cottages, while the lower rear storeys are part of the public house. The exterior has a six-window range, constructed in two phases, with No. 6 being a later addition that was built alongside the public house.

Notable features include a wide loading door on the first floor of No. 2, with an inserted two-light casement window next to it. The other first-floor and ground-floor windows are three-light casements with flat-arched brick heads. The doors are plank-style with plain brick lintels. There is a stack on the right gable of Nos. 2 and 4, and a front wall stack for No. 6. The lower storeys at the rear have had openings inserted or altered.

No. 6 connects seamlessly with the public house, which has a main facade facing Waters Green. This facade features a four-window range with two angled returns to the east and southeast, each with a two-window range. The original doorway to the left is framed with an architrave that includes clustered shafts and roll moulding, topped with a cast-iron blind fanlight. The windows are four-pane sashes with flat-arched gauged brick heads that have painted-over key stones. There is an added porch to the right of the centre, a moulded eaves cornice, and axial stacks.

The mill may have originally been built as cottages, with a weaving garret likely occupying the entire upper storey. This complex is significant for illustrating the evolving relationship between domestic and industrial uses typical of the silk industry.