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Summary

Clifford Mill. Weir Mill survives as an overgrown ruin. The watercourses and the survival of bridge tree slots in the left hand gable wall suggest that it formerly had two waterwheels, one at each end of the building.

Location

Protected Status: none recorded

Other References/Statuses: none recorded

Monument Type(s) and Dates

• WATERMILL (Built, Post Medieval to XIX - 1540 AD to 1900 AD)
• CORN MILL (Built, XVIII to XIX - 1800 AD to 1899 AD)

Full description

Swete, R. J. (Revd), 03/03/1794, Clifford Mill, DRO, 564M/F5/193 (Record Office Collection). SDV357348.

View entitled 'Clifford Mill' and dated 3rd March 1794. The drawing shows a small, buttressed, thatched mill, the roof extending down at the front to form a porch over the door. At the right hand end of the building is an undershot wheel. The upper part of the gable at this end of the building looks to be clad with timber.

Watts, S., 05/11/2014, Weir Mill (Personal Comment). SDV357347.

Site visit 31st October 2014. Weir Mill survives as an overgrown ruin. The layout of the watercourses suggests that it formerly had two waterwheels, one at each end, with a spillway also on the left hand (river side). Two bridge tree slots are visible in the gable wall at this end of the building. There are several pieces of French burr stone lying amongst the tumbled stonework and several pieces of iron work including a stone spindle have been found by the landowners.

South West Heritage Trust, 1838-1848, Digitised Tithe Maps and Transcribed Apportionments (Cartographic). SDV359954.

Ordnance Survey, 1880-1899, First Edition Ordnance Survey 25 inch map (Cartographic). SDV336179.

Weir Mill (Corn) marked on 1880s-1890s 25 inch Ordnance Survey map.

Ordnance Survey, 1904 - 1906, Second Edition Ordnance Survey 25 inch Map (Cartographic). SDV325644.

Weir Mill marked on 1904-1906 25 inch Ordnance Survey map.

Swete, J. (ed. Gray T. + Rowe, M.), 1998, Travels in Georgian Devon. The Illustrated Journals of the Reverend John Swete. Vol. 2, 46, 49 (Monograph). SDV341167.

Revd. Swete refers to the mill as Clifford Mill but his drawing and description very much suggest that it is Weir Mill that he is referring to. He describes it as 'a thatched Cottage and from a stone buttress, and two Wooden props appeared to have been for some time in a very infirm state. The Wheel was turned by an under current, the waters from which..ran in front of the Building, under a little bridge of planks - at its furthest end, was an arch through which the superfluous waters were conducted'.

Bodman, M., 2003, Watermills and Other Water-Powered Sites in Devon, 294-5 (Report - Interim). SDV325576.

Weir Mill was destroyed by fire in May 1833. According to a report in the Exeter Flying Post the fire was started deliberately. The ruins of the mill can still be seen. The mill house is still extant.

Ordnance Survey, 2012, MasterMap (Cartographic). SDV348725.

Site of mill depicted on modern mapping.

Bodman, M., 2015, Mills on the Teign. A gazetteer of water-powered sites on the Teign and Bovey and their tributaries, 51 (Monograph). SDV360401.

Weir Mill, Drewsteignton SX 7724 8990. Also known as Wear, Were and Ware Mills. Extant in the 17th century, mill was powered by a leat taken off the Teign. Indicated on Donn's county map of Devon in 1765. Sale particulars from 1799 suggest indicate it had more than one wheel at this time. Details of millers in the 19th century noted and an episode of arson in 1833 that destroyed the mill. The rebuilt mill was a small structure. Disused by 1901, W. H. Worth noted his opinion that there had been three waterwheels here; one of these is thought to be the by-pass channel. Both wheels were gone by 1926, but some of the post-1833 wooden machinery survived and was photographed in 1941. Site was a ruin in 2002.

Sources / Further Reading

Associated Monuments

Associated Finds: none recorded

Associated Events: none recorded

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