Garden Walls Approximately 1.5 Metres West Of Mill House

These garden walls, situated approximately 1.5 metres west of Mill House, are of mostly late 17th-century origin, although they incorporate later brickwork. They originally belonged to Mill House. A section of the walls was rebuilt after being damaged by a flood in 1967; this section previously displayed a date, thought to be 1691, formed from black bricks. The walls are constructed of handmade local red brick, some of which is burnt black, with stone rubble footings, and include a doorway of coarse yellow sandstone ashlar. The brickwork exhibits erratic bonding, with some sections in English garden wall bond and the majority in stretcher bond. The walls enclose a rectangular garden, separated from Mill House only by the mill leat. The south-western front wall, facing the road, has been raised with 19th-century brick, and contains a 17th-century stone doorway towards its right end. While most of the brickwork appears original, a section of the north-western side was rebuilt in 1967, and the top of the rear wall has been patched with stone rubble. The footings follow the bank of the mill leat and the bank of the leat overflow channel. A steep, outward-sloping coping with a projecting cornice runs along the top, and part of the front wall features a diagonal dentil cornice of projecting brick corners. The front wall contains a low, segmental-arch doorway with a projecting keystone and an ovolo-moulded surround. This doorway was likely constructed in the late 17th century but appears somewhat anomalous, as if assembled from pieces of a previous structure, perhaps utilising stone from the ruins of a former monastery on nearby Church Hill. The walls represent an early use of brick in rural Devon, reflecting the status of the Duke family, who owned the nearby mill and manor house. The initials “RD” were associated with the date lost during the 1967 flood. These garden walls, together with Mill House, Otterton Mill, and its stables, form a notable group on the western approach to Otterton village, which itself features numerous other listed buildings.