Cider Mill at Fern Bank

The Cider Mill at Fern Bank is a rectangular building constructed from local red sandstone, which is randomly cut and coursed, featuring neatly dressed quoins and a Welsh slate roof. The main south elevation has two storeys with two windows; the ground floor has 2-light casements beneath large lintels, and similar windows are located above, both topped by the eaves. A central stone stair leads to an upper plank door. The roof is plain with ridge tiles and a dressed stone stack on the left gable, which is blind. The right gable features the entrance to the cider house on the ground floor, with a plank door and a 2-light casement to the right, and a similar casement in the gable above. The rear elevation is also blind, and there is no evidence of a connection to a water wheel in the adjacent leat.

Inside the cider house, there is a pitched stone floor, and the frame of the press remains in place, while the crusher is located in the yard outside the door. The ceiling is heavily beamed, supporting the granary or apple store above. The upper room, with its strong floor structure, seems to have been intended for use as a granary, but the windows and chimney suggest it may have also served a domestic purpose at some point, or it could have been used as summer accommodation for itinerant workers. During World War II, it was used as a youth hostel dormitory.