Riversdale Mill House

Riversdale Mill House is a house dating to approximately 1800, constructed of white brick and roofed with slate. It is a two-story and attic square building of an unusual form. The wide gable end faces the riverside road and presents a symmetrical arrangement of three windows on each floor, with the central windows being noticeably narrower. The ground-floor central window has a lower head. The central part of the roof is raised in a top-hamper, creating a stepped effect on each side of the large central attic window. The windows are recessed sash windows with vertical margin lights, gauged flat arches, and stone sills. A brick plat band runs across the gable at eaves level, interrupted by the arches of the larger windows on each floor, also set under flat gauged arches. A slate slab is set into the blind upper opening on the east side. A round-headed opening provided views down the road, beyond a high garden wall. The house has square internal chimneys and a narrow verge moulding. The interior of the house was not inspected. The house served as the miller’s residence for Ware Park Mill, which was built in 1721 by James Fordham and was driven by a mill stream taken from the River Rib; it was the only overshot mill in Hertford. During the 19th century, the mill was owned by JW French & Co of Ware. Of the once extensive complex of mill, maltings, and associated structures, only the house now remains.