Waterloo Mill, Kingsland, County of Herefordshire

Summary

A disused, water-powered corn mill, built in 1861, replacing an earlier mill which stood to the south-west, and a second mill building, possibly a storehouse, and wheel house dating from between 1861 and 1877.

Description

DETAILS: a disused, water-powered corn mill, built in 1861, replacing an earlier mill which stood to the south-west, and a second mill building, possibly a storehouse, and a wheel house, dating from between 1861 and 1877. It is possible that the corn mill was either heightened or partially re-built between 1861 and 1887.

MATERIALS: the two principal mill buildings are of coursed stone rubble and brick with gabled slate roofs.

PLAN: the principal range of the mill complex is rectangular on plan, aligned north-east to south-west, and consists of a former corn mill and wheel house at the north-east end and a second mill building at the south-west end; the two buildings are connected by a catwalk. A later-C19 mill house, standing circa 20m to the west, a range of later-C19 outbuildings, standing circa 23m to the rear, a late-C20 cart-shed attached to the north-west elevation of the former corn mill and a late-C20 cattle-shed attached to the rear of the second mill building are of lesser interest.

CORN MILL
EXTERIOR: the principal elevation of the former corn mill, which faces north-west onto the B4360, is of four storeys in two bays. To the returns there are alternating quoins of which those to the upper two storeys are substantially more crisply cut that those to the lower two storeys. It is unclear as to whether this represents a rebuilding or heightening of the 1861 mill or whether the quoins to the lower two storeys are re-used building material from the earlier mill. Windows across the building are cambered-headed unless indicated otherwise. Each floor of the mill’s principal elevation contains a plank and batten taking-in door to the left-hand bay and a three-light casement window to the right-hand bay; the openings to the upper storey are flat-headed. A dentilled brick cornice runs across the top of the building. The construction of the north-east and south-east sides, where the lower two storeys are of coursed rubble whilst the upper two storeys are of brick, also suggests that the building was either built using re-used material from the earlier mill or re-built/heightened at a later date. To the north-east elevation there is a taking-in door to each floor; those to the first two floors are now blocked whilst that to the third floor retains a plank and batten door. A WHEEL HOUSE, probably added between 1861 and 1877, adjoins this elevation. Of a single-storey, it is constructed from brick with a corrugated-iron roof and houses a cast-iron, undershot waterwheel bearing the inscription R. R. MILES / LEOMINSTER / 1861 in raised cast lettering, a pitwheel and pinion. To the ground-floor of the rear elevation, which faces south-east, there is a two-light window with metal bars flanked by flat-headed doorways with plank and batten doors. The first-floor has a window opening and the second floor contains a blocked-up taking-in door plus a two-light casement window whilst the third floor contains a flat-headed, two-light casement window. The first-floor of the south-east elevation has a flat-headed, plank and batten taking-in door and a three-light casement window. The upper floors of this elevation have now been obscured by the late-C19 catwalk but the lower section of a second floor, plank and batten taking-in door is still visible.

INTERIOR: the ground (meal) floor contains an intact layshaft gearing system housed in a wooden Hurst frame. The first (stone) floor contains three millstones and the upright shaft and crown wheel of the gearing system. The upper two storeys were not accessible.

MILL BUILDING
EXTERIOR: the second mill building, which was probably added between 1861 and 1877 as a storehouse, is of three storeys. The right-hand section of the building is constructed over a watercourse which flows through two segmental-arched culverts. To the ground-floor of the principal elevation, which faces north-west, there is, from left to right, a flat-headed window, a cartway, a pedestrian doorway and a window opening with metal bars; the last three openings are cambered-headed. A flight of stone steps provides access to the first-floor doorway which has a stone lintel and plank and batten door. On the left-hand side of the doorway there is a three-light casement window over which, to the second floor, there is a further three-light casement window; both windows have stone sills and lintels. At the top of the building there is a dentilled cornice of brick. To the north-east elevation there is a plank and batten door to the ground-floor and a plank and batten taking-in door to the first-floor. Extending from the second floor is a weatherboarded CATWALK which is carried across to the former corn mill on large timber beams. The rear elevation, which faces south-east, contains a small, square window to both the first and second floors and a stone-built stack, of which the upper section was re-built in the early-C21, projecting from the first-floor. To the south-west elevation there are central window openings to the first and second floor, both with stone sills and lintels.

INTERIOR: the ground floor, which is subdivided by a coursed, stone rubble wall, has a bare earth floor and large ceiling beams. To the roof structure there are C19 king-post trusses.

History

Waterloo Mill was built as a water-powered corn mill in 1861, replacing an earlier corn mill which stood to the south-west. It was equipped with an undershot waterwheel and an all-iron layshaft gearing system installed by the millwright Richard Miles of Leominster. There is, however, uncertainty as to whether the entire mill complex, which additionally consists of a second mill building (possibly a storehouse) standing to the south-west of the corn mill, a wheel house, a mill house and a range of outbuildings, were constructed at the same time. The entire mill complex is, however, recorded on the first edition Ordnance Survey map of 1887. Furthermore, evidence from the building fabric of the corn mill also suggests that it was either built re-using some of the building material from the earlier mill or that it was either heightened or re-built to some extent between 1861 and 1887. The second edition Ordnance Survey map of 1903 still records the building as being a corn mill but by 1928, when the third edition Ordnance Survey Map was published, it had changed use to a cider mill. In the second half of the C20 the mill closed and the building were used as a livestock farm. In the late-C20 a cart-shed and cattle-shed were added to the site and in the early-C21 the two principal mill buildings were re-slated.

Reasons for Listing

Waterloo Mill, a water-powered corn mill, built in 1861 with later additions, is designated at Grade II for the following principal reasons:
* Historic interest: as a good example of a rural, water-powered, corn mill which retains a significant proportion of historic fabric;
* Intactness: it retains a significant proportion of mill machinery including a waterwheel, layshaft gearing system, Hurst frame and three sets of millstones which aid understanding of the operation of a water-powered corn mill;
* Functional interest: the function of the mill remains evident in the surviving historic fabric of the building and the intact machinery.

External Links

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