Watermill

ALVINGHAM ABBEY LANE TF 39 SE (east side) 4/5 Watermill 9.3.67 G.V. II*

Watermill. C17, 1782 by John Maddison, c.1900, restored 1972. Red brick, mostly colourwashed. Pantile roof with stone coped gables. 3 storeys including upper storey added in 1872. 4 bay front including wheelhouse to left, added in 1782, plus lean-to of c.1900 added to left hand return wall. Doorway to right with segmental head and plank door. Glazing bar window to left with segmental head. Clear break in bonding of brickwork to left with segmental headed opening beyond, with footbridge over it and second segmental headed opening behind allowing access of water to wheelhouse. Lean-to of c.1900 beyond with plank door. Doorway above to right with segmental head, plank door and platform in front of it. 2 small glazing bar windows to left, both with segmental heads. Wheel of belt pulley to left, inserted c.1900 to power pea-sorting machine intact inside lean- to to left. 3 small sliding sashes above, all with segmental heads, pulley immediately above window to right. Shuttered opening in lean-to to left. Interior with breast shot waterwheel of 1782, 11 feet in diameter, large axle spokes and cheek plates of cast iron with dovetailed joints; 32 buckets of wrought iron and elm board. 2 slide valves at axle height in good working order. Cast iron pit wheel and wallower. Auxiliary drive from pit wheel to drive internal and external belt pulleys. First floor with 2 pairs of Peak stones in use, one pair with feed hopper and casing of c.1972. Pair of French burr stones not in use. Stones driven by vertical shaft via wooden toothed gear wheel. Vertical shaft continues to top floor to drive sask hoist with wooden faced clutch wheel. All the machinery of 1782, restored in c.1972, and is now in good working order and regularly used. Watermill known to have been on site since 1155. Water channelled from River Lud and culverted under Louth Canal in brick tunnel.

Listing NGR: TF3665491404