Arrow Mill

Arrow Mill is a timber-framed mill building of multiple dates, spanning from the late 16th century to the early 19th century, with a hop kiln of late 18th or 19th-century date. The building stands at Arrow Green in Kingsland and is Grade II* listed.

The earliest stage appears to date from the 16th century and may have included domestic accommodation. This west wing was extended eastward in the 17th century when a purpose-built mill was erected, and then extended again northward in the later 17th century. The roof was raised and a lean-to added to the north in the 18th century. A lean-to hop kiln was also added on the north side around the same time. The building is L-shaped in plan, rising to two and three storeys, and comprises timber framing with brick infill and rubble stone walling at ground-floor level. The roof is covered in slate and corrugated metal sheeting.

The east face shows the early 17th-century range on the left with stone walling at ground-floor level and 4x3 cells of small framing above, with a truncated former gable end that was cut when the roof was re-aligned. To the right is a later 17th-century addition, also with small framing. The ground floor has a door and two two-light casements; the first floor features a full-height taking-in door and hatch. The added hop kiln sits further right, with a projecting stone plinth, small-framed walling to both floors, a wide ground-floor door, and a hatch to the lean-to gable end.

The north face shows the projecting hop kiln on the right with small-framed walling. An early photograph shows it originally had a stone-tiled roof, now replaced by corrugated metal sheeting. Behind this sheeting is the gable end of the 17th-century range, small-framed, clearly showing both the original gable and revised configuration, with hatches at both heights. The west wing projects here with a shallow-pitched slate roof suggesting later alteration or rebuilding. Timbers on the north and west sides appear to have been brought from elsewhere. The north face has a door that was originally wider and is now partially blocked.

The south face has the recessed west wing on the left with stone and small-framed walling. To the right is the original mill building with rubble walling below and 7x5 cells of small framing above, of which the top two rows of cells were added in the 18th century. Hatches provide access to both upper floors. A 20th-century water wheel with cast metal structure and wooden blades sits at ground-floor level. Marks in the stone walling indicate where a second wheel, replaced in the 18th century, once stood.

Interior ground-floor rooms feature heavy pit-sawn beams. Timber-framed walls are exposed in the west wing. Flooring in the 16th and 17th-century mill is rammed earth. The gear cage is timber, with a combination of metal and wooden cogs and wooden shafts. The pit wheel is metal, connecting to a wallower with wooden shaft. The great spur wheel is iron, as are the pinions and spindles connecting to the millstones, mounted on timber bridge trees. A further bevelled wheel connects to the pit wheel and leads by a horizontal wooden shaft to a wooden compass wheel intended to drive secondary machinery. At first-floor level, the hop kiln retains its slatted loft flooring. The clover mill, set to the west in a screened area, has a wooden casing, wheel, and ironwork with damsel. The bolter has a wooden case marked with costs per bushel for grinding wheat, barley, drefing, and beans, and retains its internal wooden wheel. First-floor flooring has been replaced in the 20th century. A sack hoist is present at second-floor level. Common rafters have been replaced, and purlins have been patched.

The building originally had two water wheels on the south side, each presumably driving one set of stones. This configuration was altered in the 18th century when a single water wheel was installed to drive three sets of stones, probably coinciding with the roof raising. In the mid-19th century, parts of the wooden gear were replaced by iron made by Miles of Leominster. The clover mill and bolter appear to date from the early 19th century. In the 20th century, the west wing, which may have originally been a domestic range, was adapted to form a playroom at ground-floor level and a sitting room at first-floor level, involving the laying of a tiled floor and replacement of windows, including the insertion of a large picture window to the first floor of the south face. A new water wheel was also installed on the south face in the later 20th century. The present brick infill appears to date from various periods but is mostly of the 18th and 19th centuries.