The Wheel

The Wheel is a mid-19th century water mill, converted to a craft centre, situated on the site of an earlier mill complex. The building is constructed of local grey limestone rubble, colourwashed, with gabled ends and a right-side stack. It has a rectangular plan and features a large, working backshot water wheel at the rear.

The front elevation is symmetrical with three bays, arranged over three storeys. The upper level is crowned by a gabled wooden hoist housing, featuring a gabled doorway in the roof and a projecting wooden platform with timber rails, with much of the timber apparently renewed. A first-floor doorway is centrally positioned, with weatherboarding below. Ground and first floor windows have segmental heads and vertical glazing bars, while the second floor windows have vertical glazing bars; the centre window is topped with a timber lintel. The rear elevation is unrendered and has brick arches to the first-floor windows.

The impressive backshot wheel, 20 feet in diameter, was installed in 1860. It has a cast iron outer rim forged locally at Ideford by blacksmith Ivor Hall, 20 oak spokes, and 70 elm buckets.

The interior retains significant surviving machinery in working order, including gearing, a late Victorian iron roller crusher, and two winches. The stair was altered during the conversion into a craft centre. The roof trusses were replaced after a fire in 1941, but the original charred trusses remain. The mill was last used for corn grinding in 1939. It is considered to be the largest working backshot wheel in the south of England.