Otterton Mill Including Mill Leat And Sluices To North

Otterton Mill including mill leat and sluices to north

A working corn mill and museum occupying a site with monastic origins, probably one of three mills mentioned in the Domesday survey. The present mill dates from the 18th century but was substantially rebuilt in the mid-19th century.

The main building is constructed of roughly-dressed blocks of brown local conglomerate sandstone with red brick relieving arches over the windows and a slate roof. The corn mill is built over a leat and houses two breast shot waterwheels with milling machinery contained in a block facing north-north-east onto the road. An outshot to the rear right now contains a bakery but formerly housed machinery belt-driven from the main block. Sections of the rear wall are rubbled and probably date from the 18th century or earlier, while most visible work is mid-19th century.

The main block is two storeys with lofts. The front elevation facing the road presents a regular but not symmetrical four-window front of 19th and 20th century replacement casements, all with low segmental brick arches. The leat runs under the mill to the right of centre. To either side are two-window sections; the left pair contains a ground floor doorway and first floor loading hatch between them, both fitted with 19th century plank stable-type doors. The eaves are deep and plain, with a hipped roof at each end. Similar casements appear on the first floor at each end. The rear elevation is less regular, containing comparable windows and doorways at each end, with the left door positioned behind the outshot. A window to the left of the right window retains stone jambs and presumably dates from the pre-19th century mill. The bakery has a leanto roof with an external flight of four steps up the outer side to the loft above.

The interior structure is intact and complete with water wheels and all original machinery. The wheels and machinery divide the floors into workshops of unequal size, with the eastern ones larger than the western. The structural carpentry is plain and sturdy, entirely exposed. The steep staircases appear to be original mid-19th century work, with one set at each end of the building. The two breast shot wheels are positioned between brick crosswalls with a corridor along the front containing sluice controls. The left wheel has timber buckets and is no longer in use; the working wheel has iron buckets. Two sets of machinery rise through the building either side of the wheels, separated by a brick crosswall extending up into the loft space as high as the eaves. The eastern set is operational; the other set is incomplete.

The roof is mid-19th century, comprising seven bays with tie beam trusses fitted with queen posts and raking struts. The queen posts create a passageway through the loft, raised above timber storage bins and grain hoppers on each side. The platforms and floors below include hatches for hoisting sacks of grain. On the working side is an iron chain and mechanical hoist arrangement connected by belt to the machinery below. The other hoist mechanism incorporates a reused crown wheel possibly dating from the 17th century. The remaining machinery is basically mid-19th century, though some elements have been reused from earlier equipment with later repairs evident. Ground floor gearing is complete on both sides, with main wheels fitted with applewood cogs. The first floor originally contained four pairs of grindstones; three remain in position. One set of composite stone wheels is still working in a 20th century timber housing. The non-working sets are French, fitted with cast-iron balances and inscribed around the centre; one reads "This stone first used tis true, May 1 1862", the other first used in 1859. The mill currently produces approximately three-quarters of a ton of wholemeal flour each week.

The mill leat probably has pre-Conquest origins. To the north of the mill, it leaves the River Otter above a weir. Flow is controlled by a late 19th century cast iron vertical sluice set into stone rubble walls. Some sections of the leat still retain elm plank lining. Closer to the mill is a second sluice comprising two narrow vertical timber gates separated by a granite post. Both sluices remain operational.

The mill is historically significant as an important working water mill with little alteration since the mid-19th century, making it an excellent museum and interpretation centre. It is also visually important within the attractive village of Otterton. The site has strong historical connections to the locality: the monastery that originally owned the mill stood on nearby Church Hill; the 12th century tower of the Church of St Michael survives from the monastic period. Following the Dissolution, the mill was purchased by Richard Duke, whose family memorials appear in the church and whose arms are displayed on the porch of the former manor house, now 1, 2, 3 and 4 St Michaels Close, adjacent to the church. Duke initials were formerly displayed on garden walls opposite the mill. In 1785 the mill was sold to the Rolles of Bicton House, a family who rebuilt the church as it now stands and developed much of Otterton village.