Syreford Mill

Syreford Mill is a complex comprising a mill, a miller's house, and attached outbuildings, dating from the late 16th to the 19th century. The mill itself is late 16th and 17th century, with a probable 19th-century bakehouse, a 17th and 18th-century miller's house, and 19th-century outbuildings.

The mill is constructed of coursed squared and dressed limestone, with square panelled timber framing and brick infill, some weatherboarding to the west gable, and a stone slate roof. It has a stone stack. The bakehouse is of coursed squared and dressed limestone with a corrugated-iron roof and brick stack. The miller's house is of coursed squared and dressed limestone with a stone slate roof and stone stacks. The 19th-century outbuildings are of coursed squared and dressed limestone with stone slate and slate roofs. The main mill building is rectangular, with the 19th-century bakehouse at the left gable end, the miller’s house at the right gable end, and the outbuildings at right angles to the mill building.

The mill has two and a half storeys. A 19th-century plank door, protected by a stone canopy and moulded margin, is located towards the right gable end, with a two-light stone-mullioned casement above, lighting a bedroom. Clasping buttresses with offsets are situated to the left of the door, partially obscured by a passage separating the mill from the 19th-century outbuildings. A cast-iron overshot mill wheel is under the left gable end. Diamond leaded panes are visible in glazed panels within the timber framing, with one panel boarded over. A bakehouse has a plank door and an unglazed window to the left. The miller's house at the right gable end features a projecting, gabled wing. A 19th-century plank door is under a raking canopy to the left of the wing, with a three-light stone-mullioned casement with a stopped hood to the left of the door, and a two-light casement to the first floor. A three-light casement, with a keystone lintel, is to the ground floor of the forward-facing gable, and two-light casements are to the upper floor, with similar casements to the right bay of the projecting wing. A former single-storey stable, now converted, has a plank door to the right. All windows are 20th-century casements with horizontal glazing bars. A stone stack rises from the apex of the forward-facing gable.

The 19th-century outbuildings run south from the mill, with one and two storeys. An entrance to a passage is to the right, a single light with leaded pane is to the left, and a plank door leads to a loft formerly accessed by stone steps. Another plank door leads to a former wash house, alongside a two-light casement. An earth closet extends to the rear left, towards the mill race, with a single-light window and a flat-chamfered stone surround in the rear north wall, directly in line with the mill wheel. A squinch provides a similar line of vision from the corner of the former wash house.

The interior of the mill on the first floor contains two mill stones and two winnowing machines, with storage bins and chutes on the second floor; most of the machinery and gearing remain in situ, except for the driving belts. The bakehouse interior has a flagged floor, two openings to a brick-lined oven, which remains in situ. The 19th-century outbuildings feature a washing copper set into a corner, and stone-flagged floors. A mill pool lies immediately north of the mill and house. A mill existed on the site as early as the 14th century, though milling may have occurred earlier.