Skinners Mill And Cottage

Skinners Mill and Cottage is a former mill and mill house, later converted into two cottages, with origins possibly dating back to the 15th century or earlier. The building has undergone significant alterations and extensions in the 18th, 19th, and 20th centuries. It is constructed of coursed, squared dressed limestone, with ashlar detailing in the 19th-century wing, and has a stone slate roof.

The building presents a complex layout, incorporating a hall-house centre, a 19th-century block set at a right angle to the main structure, a mill building along the stream side, and an L-shaped domestic block with a through-way. The entrance front is divided into four sections. The left section is single-storey with a 2-light recessed chamfer mullion casement and a chamfered surround to a doorway sheltered by a gabled canopy on brackets. To its right is a two-storey block with two 2-light recessed chamfer mullion windows, beneath a continuous hood mould interrupted by a late 20th-century gabled porch and door. Above are two 3-light recessed chamfer mullion casements with hood moulds. The far-right section contains a segmental-pointed opening leading to the through-way. An ashlar stack with capping is located on the left gable. An earlier section features a 4-light Perpendicular window below a 2-light small-pane casement dormer and a large stone stack backing onto the through passage. Attached at a right angle is a high two-storey 19th-century block featuring two over 3-light mullioned casement windows with hood moulds, and a good 6-panel door within the internal angle. Plain gables are topped with yellow brick stacks.

The rear elevation includes a lean-to conservatory, positioned beneath three 2-light chamfer mullion casements, and two 3-light gabled dormers. Other features include a plain gable to the 19th century building, a single-light window to an early block, an opening to the through-way with an arch hood, a deep projecting single-storey wing, and a low wing with a brick gable facing Painswick stream. A basement is accessible from ground level.

The interior was only partially inspected. The central building contains features suggestive of earlier construction, including a crock-like detail to a dormer light and an arch-braced truss with wind bracing. At ground floor level is a deep spine beam with chamfers to run-out stops. The overall building is described as an interesting agglomeration.