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Summary

Remains of the two storey mill and mill house.

Location

Protected Status: none recorded

Other References/Statuses: none recorded

Monument Type(s) and Dates

• MILL HOUSE (Built, XIX to Unknown - 1817 AD (Pre))
• WATERMILL (Built, XIX to Unknown - 1817 AD (Pre))

Full description

Watts, M. A., 1992, Slades Mill (Correspondence). SDV172672.

The remains of the mill, with its adjoining cottage and outbuildings, are of considerable vernacular and technological interest and contain several features of significance. The name Yabsley and the date April 4 1817 has been cut into a lintel over the former entrance to the cottage, which could indicate the date of the building. The milling area is clearly visible, with the remains of some machinery and mill stones. The mill appears to have worked with two pairs of mill stones driven by predominantly wooden machinery.
The original overshot waterwheel has gone. It was superseded by a Pelton wheel in the earlier 20th century, of which the casing and feed pipe survive.

Child, P. C., 1997, Goodshelter, East Portlemouth (Ground Photograph). SDV172681.

Photos showing the remains of the mill building and machinery.

Exeter Archaeology, 1998, Slade's Mill, East Portlemouth. Documentary History and Building Interpretation, 7-8, Pls 1,2, 4-6 (Report - non-specific). SDV172671.

Building 1. The mill building comprised a two storey domestic wing and a two storey milling wing. Old photos show that the mill building was slate roofed. The house walls, which survive to original roof height, were rendered. The mill was a gable ended building. The walls, which were unrendered, survive to just below second storey height.
The ground plan of the main room in the house appears to correspond with the original ie pre 1817 building. The room contains a stone fireplace, with an oven to the left. Rectilinear stone walling by the south wall could be the remains of the stairs. There are traces of internal plaster on the walls.
At the northern end of the room is a doorway through to an extension, which appears to have been below the level of the main room. The extension is divided into two by stone slabs. The smaller, western area contained a cast iron boiler with a brick flue and chimney. The extension was probably a domestic utility room. The exterior doorway has a datestone in the lintel, inscribed 'Ap 4: 1817/Yabsley' with the 's' reversed.
Joist holes for a first floor are visible across most of the west wing. The walls are plastered internally. There is a fireplace above the main fireplace, using the same chimney. There is also a possible brick fireplace in the extension, above the boiler.
The ground floor of the mill contains two wheel pits, the southernmost being the earlier. Both have blocked shaft holes and beam slots. There is a millstone in the southern pit and three millstones in the northern pit together with the in situ rim of the iron pit wheel and some timber wheel fragments.
The east wall of the first floor is plastered internally, which could indicate a later domestic use. There was a door in the east wall giving access to the launder and waterwheel and also a door in the south wall with access to the path at the rear of the building leading to the millpond.
The mill building consists of two major phases. The main ground floor room corresponds with the west end of the original pre 1817 building. The masonry of this phase is clay-bonded, and then is a greater variety of stone utilised than elsewhere on the site: red breccia, limestone and schist. The original southern wheel-pit would have been incorporated into this building.
Phase 2 involved the addition of an extension at the northem end of the building in 1817, when the second waterwheel and wheelpit were installed and the east wall of the mill rebuilt. The predominant building material used for this phase was schist, and the masonry was mortared. The brick window-arch in the extension and the brick flue, fireplace and chimney may also have been added at this time.
The exterior void for the waterwheel shows two phases of construction corresponding with the use of two different waterwheels. The void is wider at the southern end, and this wider section corresponds with the position of a waterwheel centred around the southern blocked shaft-hole. The narrower northern section corresponds with the position of a later wheel centred on the northern
blocked shaft-hole.

Ordnance Survey, 2026, Mastermap 2026 (Cartographic). SDV366713.

Site of the mill and mill house shown.

Sources / Further Reading

SDV172671	Report - non-specific: Exeter Archaeology. 1998. Slade's Mill, East Portlemouth. Documentary History and Building Interpretation. Exeter Archaeology Report. 98.31. A4 Stapled + Digital. 7-8, Pls 1,2, 4-6.
	Linked documents:1
SDV172672	Correspondence: Watts, M. A.. 1992. Slades Mill. Letter from SPAB to South Hams DC. A4 Stapled + Digital.
SDV172681	Ground Photograph: Child, P. C.. 1997. Goodshelter, East Portlemouth. Devon County Council Historic Buildings Photo. Photograph (Paper) + Digital.
SDV366713	Cartographic: Ordnance Survey. 2026. Mastermap 2026. Ordnance Survey Digital Mapping. Digital. [Mapped feature: #145484 ]

Associated Monuments

Associated Finds: none recorded

Associated Events: none recorded

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