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Summary

Middleton Mill is water-powered grist mill to which there is a documentary reference in 1765.

Location

Protected Status

• Local List: Middleton Mill

Other References/Statuses

• Old DCC SMR Ref: ST11SE/14

Monument Type(s) and Dates

• MILL (Post Medieval to Modern - 1540 AD to 2013 AD (Between))

Full description

Devon County Council, 1838-1848, Tithe Mosaic, approximately 1838-1848 (Cartographic). SDV349431.

The mill is depicted.

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

'Middleton Mill (Corn)' is marked.

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

'Middleton Mill (Disused)' is marked.

Phillips, M. C. + Wilson, R. E., 1974 - 1977, Water Mills in East Devon, 81 (Article in Serial). SDV42946.

Middleton Mill, Clayhidon, a water-powered grist mill to which there is a documentary reference in 1765. No other details are given.

Mid Devon District Council, 2014, Mid Devon Local List Register of Heritage Assets - East, Middleton Mill, Churchinford, Clayhidon (Local List - Register of Heritage Assets). SDV356891.

Middleton Mill, Churchinford, Clayhidon
Description: Middleton Mill is currently on the Devon HER as Monument 18719. The following description is from the Devon HER:
No information other than ref to 1765 lease, below:
1765: W.J. Tucker of Honiton leased Middleton Mills to T. Blackmore of Clayhidon in consideration of the yearly rent of £33. Indenture refers to ‘the tenement and all that set of grist mills... called Middleton Mills.’ The tenant was to be responsible for repairs (DRO: 50M/T273; Phillips 1974, 81)
1863: lease (DRO: 337 add B/ML (18)) (from Bodman 2003, 54)
‘Middleton Mill (Corn)’ on Ordnance Survey 1:2500 First edition (1880s-90s); ‘Middleton Mill (Disused)’ on Second edition (1904-6)
Comment:
Middleton Barton is recorded in 1244 (PND2, 612) and is listed as a manor in Mortimer’s index of parishes-manors (Genuki website). Considering its location within the large parish of Clayhidon, it is likely that the manor possessed its own mill in the Middle Ages. Middleton Mill may therefore have been established in the late medieval period. It is possible that more detailed documentary research might confirm this.
Photographs show the mill and house under one roof, with the mill at the north-west end, a layout found elsewhere in Devon (for example, Uplyme). The waterwheel was presumably originally located externally on the north-west gable end. The building appears to have been thatched. The general appearance is of an eighteenth century build, or rebuild. This would need to be confirmed by a closer look at the layout of the site and, in particular, any surviving evidence of the working parts and mechanical layout. The hydraulic layout also appears to be of some interest, with an irregular shaped pond occupying about 0.16 acre to the south-west of the mill, which is shown on the late 19-early 20 century large scale Ordnance Survey maps. It is unclear from the maps whether this was leat or spring fed. Martin Watts 9 July 2011.

References:
Bodman, Martin. 2003: Watermills and other water-powered sites in Devon (unpublished interim draft, September 2003)
Phillips, M.C. & Wilson, R.E. 1974-9: Water Mills in East Devon. DCNQ 33.1 to 34.3 (9 parts)
PND: Gover, J.E.B., Mawer, A & Stenton, F.M. 1931 (1969) & 1932 (1973): The Place-Names of
Devon. 2 vols

Grid Reference: 318815/111604

Mid Devon District Council, 2014, Register of Heritage Assets, Middleton Mill (Local List - Register of Heritage Assets). SDV356889.

Middleton Mill.
Importance: Dates back to at the latest 1765 when there is a record of it being leased.

Sources / Further Reading

Associated Monuments: none recorded

Associated Finds: none recorded

Associated Events: none recorded

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