Piles Mill And Millhouse

Piles Mill and Millhouse is a 16th-century millhouse and mill, which has been altered and enlarged in the 17th century and mid-19th century. It is now used as a dwelling and museum. The building features red sandstone random rubble and has a roof covered with triple Roman tiles. The outbuildings have triple ridge tiles, and there are external stone stacks on the right gable end and a lateral stack at the rear.

The structure is T-shaped, with the house flanked by outbuildings facing south, set into a hillside at the west end, and the mill located in a wing at the rear. The south front is two storeys high, with the house featuring 20th-century casements, most of which have sills. There are two full-height windows on the left and one on the right, along with a stair turret that has a small leaded light. The ground floor includes a large three-light window with a relieving arch above a smaller window, and a square-headed plank door to the right of the stair turret. There is also a two-light window beyond with a four-step mounting block. To the left, there is a store under the same roof, featuring a square-headed doorway with a window to the right, set into the hillside, with a gable end entrance to the loft at ground floor level, accessed by a plank door. To the right of the house, at a 30-degree angle, is a stable with a loft above, which has three doors and two windows, with the loft door on the right return. Evidence of rebuilding can be seen on the rear elevation.

The mill has a steeply pitched roof on the east front, with a large square-headed stable door featuring Arts and Crafts style hinges, and a small glazed opening to the right. The right return gable end has 20th-century weatherboarding and an iron frame overshot waterwheel with wooden paddles. The west front, which abuts the left rear wing of the millhouse, has one window on the first floor and two on the ground floor.

Inside, there are three pairs of jointed cruck trusses, partly renewed, rising from pads set halfway down the wall, with collar beams. The ground floor features a chamfered beam with a step and run-out stops, and there is late 19th-century corn milling machinery still in place.