Cowlings Mill

Cowlings Mill is a miller’s house and mill, dating from the 17th century or earlier, with significant remodelling in the 19th century. It was originally three houses and is now a single residence. The building is constructed of painted slatestone rubble with oak lintels or shallow brick arches over openings. The roof is covered with scantle slate, featuring a large rubble stack to the left gable end, a large lateral rubble stack to the rear of the right-hand room, and a smaller, later rubble chimney over the right gable end. Lean-to additions are present at both ends, with 20th-century roofs. The original plan likely comprised a three-room, cross-passage layout, with a room beyond the hall to the right, now incorporated within the lean-to. The building was remodelled in the 19th century as a watermill, with accommodation on the first floor and an extension to the rear to house mill machinery. A parlour on the left (west) side became a separate single-cell house, and the hall, originally to the right of the entrance, became another single-cell house. Later 20th-century remodelling involved a lean-to addition to the mill and a further lean-to to the left (west) end.

The south front has an almost symmetrical three-window arrangement, plus single-storey lean-tos at either end. Circa early 19th-century hornless 16-pane sashes are present on the main front and to the right. Two doorways are grouped towards the middle, the right-hand one being blocked. A 20th-century glazed gable-ended porch fronts the left-hand doorway. A further doorway is located to the left of the mill front, with a circa early 20th-century top-glazed door and marginal panes. A round-headed arch with a wide, straight chamfer survives, reused as a window head to the right-hand (east) end; this was possibly the original door head. The rear elevation features a circa early 19th-century 12-pane, two-light casement on the first floor, set within rendered walling. A large lateral stack adjoins a small rubble lean-to, within which a corbelled first-floor chimney breast can be seen to the left of the stack. The interior was not inspected, but it is reported that no early features are visible. The mill retains some heavy timberwork associated with machinery, and a chamfered stone fragment is built into the right-hand gable. This presents a rare survival of a 17th-century building with original external features in this area.