Moreton Mill

Moreton Mill is a water-powered industrial building, originally a forge for the manufacture of wrought iron, that was later converted to a corn mill and sawmill in the 19th century. The west range is dated 176-, with records documenting rebuilding work from 1759-61. Alterations occurred in the late 18th and 19th centuries.

The building is constructed of red brick and sandstone ashlar, with plain tile roofs, brick dentilated eaves, and mainly segment-headed openings. It comprises a single range of two storeys plus a basement and garrets, with a three-bay arrangement. A single-storey sawmill is attached to the west end, built of random rubble, brick, and timber.

The east range, to the left, has an ashlar basement and ground floor, with 18th-century brick upper floors. The road frontage features a stable door flanked to the right by a hatch door providing access to the vacant wheel pit. Above, a hatch is visible. The left gable has a late 19th-century first-floor window. This range may have contained forge machinery. The west range, dated 176-, has a central boarded door with 20th-century concrete steps, flanked by single small casement windows without glazing. The right gable has an unglazed three-light garret window. The rear of the building features mainly original openings, some of which are blocked, and a datestone with a brick surround inscribed "Rebuilt 176-". This part of the building may have been a warehouse or charcoal store.

To the right is the former sawmill, constructed in the late 19th and mid-20th centuries. It is single-storey with a corrugated asbestos roof. The east end is built of random rubble with ashlar quoins, while the west end is of 19th-century brick and the rear is of mid-20th-century timber construction. A hatchway provides access to the wheel pit, housing a 19th-century steel wheel originally with wooden floats, and a wooden water wheel, possibly earlier, both undershot. Three 20th-century windows are positioned to the right, while the rear has a wide opening and various windows, one with glazing bars. Double doors are located in the west gable.

The interior of the east end includes vacant joist mortices in the stone basement, along with a later 19th-century floor featuring reused cross beams and an incomplete ashlar cross wall. The roof is supported by a 19th-century king post truss. The dated west end has two 19th-century lattice girders inserted around 1950, supporting the first floor. Some pulleys and line shafting from the early 20th century remain. The sawmill has a mid-20th-century truss roof with tie rods, along with various concrete machine bases.

Moreton Mill represents significant remains of an important ironworking site used intermittently from the early 17th century. Reconstructed in 1759-61, it continued in use until about 1794, when it was converted into a corn mill and sawmill.