Finch Foundry and Foundry House

The complex comprises a former woollen factory and grist mill, later adapted as a tool factory, saw mill, carpenter’s and wheelwright's shop and now a working museum. The core buildings likely date to the late 18th century, with significant alterations and additions throughout the 19th century. Construction is primarily of stone rubble with some cob, and features a gable ended slate roof. Foundry House has a rendered brick stack at its left gable end.

Originally, in the early 19th century, the complex consisted of two separate buildings: a larger three-story woollen factory to the east and a smaller grist mill a short distance to the west. By 1814, the eastern building was taken over by William Finch to establish an edge tool works, largely used as a forge. Existing first and second storey floors were removed, and a water wheel was installed on the right-hand side. A deed of 1835 refers to the building as a hammer mill, and a second water wheel was likely added at the rear to provide air blast to the forges at that time. Around the mid-19th century, the westerly grist mill building was leased by Finch and converted to a grinding house, also powered by a water wheel. Subsequent additions included a stable fronting the forge, with an office on the first floor and open storage below, and a roofed-over area between the original buildings to create a saw mill. A first-floor workshop was built between the forge and Foundry House, providing access below to the Quaker burial ground behind the premises. A long outbuilding to the rear of Foundry House was built to store reed and straw, used for wrapping tools prior to dispatch. The saw mill was later demolished for road widening.

The exterior of Foundry House has a symmetrical two-window front with original 16-pane hornless sashes and a central 19th-century panelled double door. An archway between the house and forge provides a thoroughfare to the burial ground, with granite steps leading to a balcony in front of the first-floor doorway. Adjacent to the archway is a fallstone arch, now infilled with a door and window. The forge itself is lower and has a doorway at its left-hand end. All three overshot water wheels survive at the rear and side of the forge, and on the right side of the grinding house.

The interior preserves the complete machinery from when the complex was operational, excluding the saw mill. This includes tilt hammers, shear and drop hammers, four hearths, two furnaces, a polishing wheel, a band saw, and a grindstone in the grinding house, all in working order.