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Summary

Watermill on Wembury Beach. First referred to in 1581. Small, stone built mill with mill house attached. Waterwheel removed 1914-1918. Now the Watermill Café.

Location

Protected Status: none recorded

Other References/Statuses

• Old DCC SMR Ref: SX54NW/4

Monument Type(s) and Dates

• WATERMILL (XVI to XXI - 1501 AD to 2009 AD (Between))

Full description

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

'Wembury Mill (Corn)' marked on 1880s-1890s 25 inch Ordnance Survey map, as a T-shaped bulding with two detached buildings to the east and another building to the south.

Evans, H. M., 1909, Wembury: Its Bay, Church and Parish, 264 (Article in Serial). SDV336371.

Langdon Mill, on the coast at river mouth south west of church. Driven by conduit from stream which is now choked with sand, rendering wheel immovable. Other details: Plate facing p266.

Devon County Council, 1974, Survey of Watermills in Devon: Gazetteer (Report - Survey). SDV83967.

Wembury Mill. 19th century gristmill.

National Trust, 1984, Wembury Bay and Yealm Estuary (Report - Survey). SDV340226.

The mill at Wembury Beach served Wembury Manor and is first referred to in an Elizabethan record of 1581. Manor Court records of 1691 and 1700 indicate that the tenants were obliged to grind at the lord's mill. Sometime during the first half of the 19th century the manor of Langdon acquired Wembury Mill and the Langdon estate mill further upstream went out of use. Under the ownership of the Calmadys, the tenants were E. Gullett in 1824 and later William Beer. It remained part of the Langdon estate until 1927 when it was occupied by a Mr Farnson. The wheel was still there in 1907 and may have been broken up for scrap during the First World War. The earthworks of the mill leat and dam remain in the meadow behind the beach and the channel leading water to the top of the wheel remains beside the steps to the beach. The mill is in good condition and used as a cafe. The miller's house is let as holiday accommodation. The whole building was recently re-roofed. The mill building itself is well-sited to avoid the worst of the heavy seas.

Bodman, M., 2003, Watermills and Other Water-Powered Sites in Devon, 316-7 (Report - Interim). SDV325576.

Small, stone built mill with combined mill house. The wheel occupied the west end of the building and was removed c1914-1918. The building is know as the Mill Café and several mill stones still survive.

Sources / Further Reading

Associated Monuments

Associated Finds: none recorded

Associated Events: none recorded

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