Wreay Hall Mill

Wreay Hall Mill is a water-powered corn mill and attached drying kiln, dating to 1663 and remodelled in 1808. It is constructed of rock-faced red sandstone with dressed sandstone quoins, beneath sandstone and slate roof coverings. The building has an L-shaped plan, with the kiln house stepped back from the main elevation and an attached brick and rock-faced sandstone wheelhouse outshut to the rear.

The main east elevation features a doorway to the kilns with a timber door on the ground floor, a small window with two vertical iron bars on the upper floor, and a roof vent above. The mill has a chamfered door surround with a timber door at its north end, with a stone lintel and two date stones above the door. The oldest date stone features a triangular inset with initials and the date carved in relief; the youngest date stone is carved with three lines of initials above a date. A ground-floor window is located to the left of the door, with a timber-doored opening on the upper floor above. An aperture for the drive shaft is situated to the left of the window. The south gable has a central ground-floor window and a timber-doored opening on the first floor. The rear elevation shows a timber-doored opening on the upper floor of the mill. The outshut contains an in situ waterwheel and has an entrance doorway on its west elevation and an opening on its north elevation. The kiln house has two small windows, one on the ground floor and one on the upper floor, and two ground floor vertical wall vents. The north gable has five rectangular vent or putlog holes on the upper floor.

The ground floor contains the mill’s main drive machinery from the wheelhouse, including primary and secondary gear wheels, drive shafts, and a hoist. A timber ceiling covers the ground floor. Timber stairs lead from the ground floor to the original brick-built drying kiln, and on to the former stone floor of the mill. The mill’s upper floor contains a timber floor, the hoist wheel, and a timber roof structure. The upper floor of the kiln house has a timber floor and timber roof structure.

Date stones indicate an earlier building from 1663, remodelled in 1808; both are initialled. Wreay Hall Mill is of group value due to its survival as a water-powered corn mill retaining much of its machinery, water wheel and drying kiln.