Lapford Mill and associated leat system

A late-C19 water-powered corn mill and leat system, rebuilt on the site of an earlier mill, closed in 1948 and restored in the late-C20.

MATERIALS: stone with brick dressing to the openings and the quoins, all under a slate roof.

PLAN: a rectangular building on an east-to-west alignment with a leat extending to the south-east.

EXTERIOR: the mill is three storeys with an attic. The front (north) elevation has an entrance with a timber stable door. There is one window to the left and two to the floor above; all are nine-pane casements. The eastern gable-end has a six-pane ground-floor window and a nine-pane window to the first floor and attic. The breast-shot water wheel is attached to the south elevation, and sits in a stone and concrete lined wheel-pit. Above the wheel is a six-pane ground-floor opening, two nine pane windows to the first floor and the remains of a metal shaft. The west elevation includes a first-floor taking-in opening with a timber stable door and concrete cill. Above is a projecting timber hoist loft with a two-pane window and a trapdoor for the hoist in the base, all on timber brackets supported by stone corbels. All of openings in the mill are topped by brick, double-course, segmental arches, and have quoins and cills. INTERIOR: the mill machinery is arranged over three floors with the main shaft rising through the centre of the building. Fixed timber ladders lead up to each floor. The ground floor is subdivided by timber partitions that enclose the iron axle that links to the external water-wheel, as well as the pit-wheel and spur-wheel. The second floor is open and includes the tun (containing the millstones), the associated hoists and wheels and a rotating flour bin connected to the chute above. The third floor has been converted to living accommodation and contains two former timber-partitioned storage bays on either side of the main shaft. Above this level is central timber catwalk and partitioned storage areas in the eaves, including a bathroom with a flush lavatory.

SUBSIDIARY FEATURES: the concrete and stone-lined leat, repaired in the late C20, extends for circa 18m to the south east to a weir, with a restored sluice gate and a 10m section of the stone-lined overflow.