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Summary

Talewater or Colletts Mill is suggested to be on the site of a Domesday mill, the earliest documentary evidence for the present building are the deeds of 1749. It is described as flour and grist mills with a house and stable in a sale notice of 1810. The mill is marked as disused on the 1904-6 Ordnance Survey map, but apparently worked by engine until 1939. The main mill building is now roofless and derelict, the front wall having collapsed. No machinery survives.

Location

Protected Status: none recorded

Other References/Statuses

• Old DCC SMR Ref: SY09NE/43
• Old Listed Building Ref (II)

Monument Type(s) and Dates

• WATERMILL (Built, XVIII - 1701 AD (Between) to 1800 AD (Between))

Full description

Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division, OS SY09NE 22, OS SY09NE 22 (Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division Card). SDV116055.

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

The mill is shown alongside/across the leat. Another, rectangular building, is shown to the south as part of the same plot. The plot, No. 136 is ecorded as 'Mills' on the accompanying Tithe Apportionment, owned and occuped by Barnabas Wright.

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

Marked as Talewater Mill (Corn). The building to the south depicted on the Tithe Map is no longer extant.

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

Marked as Corn Mill (Disused).

Ordnance Survey, 1906, 69NE (Cartographic). SDV335886.

Marked as Corn Mill (Disused).

Royal Air Force, 1946 - 1949, Royal Air Force Aerial Photographs (Aerial Photograph). SDV342938.

The 1940s RAF aerial photo shows the mill building to have been extended alongside the lane.

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

Other details: Visited in 1973.

Phillips, M. C. + Wilson, R. E., 1978 - 1981, Water Mills in East Devon, 114 (Article in Serial). SDV102852.

Talewater Mill, Talaton, a former watermill which may be on the site of a mill noted in the Domesday survey. Otherwise the earliest documentary evidence is in deeds of 1749. Thereafter the mill was in use till 1939, although powered latterly by gas or diesel engines. There is a surviving three-storey mill building of brick, stone, and slate, although nothing remains of machinery including former overshot wheel. Water supplied direct from River Tale leaving the old river course largely dry. Grist mill.

Bodman, M., 1998, Water-Powered Sites in Devon, 21,22 (Report - non-specific). SDV305931.

Bodman, M., 2003, Watermills and Other Water-Powered Sites in Devon, 176-7 (Report - Interim). SDV325576.

'Talewater Mills' mentioned in a sale notice of 1810 as flour & grist mills with a house & stable.

Ordnance Survey, 2016, MasterMap (Cartographic). SDV359352.

Both the ruined original mill building and the later extension alongside the lane are shown.

Watts S., 2020, Talewater Mill (Ground Photograph). SDV364693.

Site visit 21st July 2020. Talewater or Colletts Mill comprises the main south facing mill building alongside the least with an extension at the west end, part of which extends over the leat and which was extended southwards in the earlier 20th century. It was latterly occupied by Otter Nurseries.
The footprint of the mill, which was largely obscured by debris at the time of the site visit, is about 7.7 m by 3.54m, the original extension about 4.44m long. The west wall of the extension is partly built into the slope, the lane alongside being at first floor level.
The mill building has been largely demolished by neglect over the last 30 years or so and is now roofless and much of the front wall has gone. Built of stone and brick, it formerly had a slate roof with clay ridge tiles. One of these is stamped, WILCOX & HARVEY/WESTON-SUPER-MARE. Wilcox and Harvey were producing such tiles between about 1855 and 1882 (B. Murless, Pers. Comm.).
A possible wheelshaft entry survives in the north wall, above floor level.
The roof of the extension is now clad with corrugated sheeting as is part of the first floor on the east facing, yard, side.
The mill and extension are currently (July 2020) the subject of a planning application for conversion to a residential dwelling and annexe. it is understood from the site owners, however, that the mill building is to be consolidated and retained as a patio garden. It is possible that features such as the wheelpit and possibly a grain silo survive beneath the debris.

Ordnance Survey, 2022, Mastermap 2022 (Cartographic). SDV364674.

Marked as Collets Mill.

Metcalfe, D. J., 2023, Heritage Report. Talewater Mill, Talaton EX5 2RS (Report - non-specific). SDV365988.

Talewater Mill is a multiphase structure situated within a complex of industrial buildings to the south of Talewater Farm. A mill is recorded at Talaton in the Domesday Book of 1086 but the site is uncertain and could reference Fairmile Mill rather than Talewater Mill. The earliest documentary reference for Talewater Mill is in 1749. The mill continued in use as a corn mill into the mid 20th century, latterly powered by gas and then diesel engines. Mapping from 1959 shows a series of extensions and buildings subsequently added to the mill. Since the 1970s the site has been used for storage.
The present building is broadly L-shaped with a narrow, eastern range against the leat. The wider, western range runs north-south. The eastern range appears to be the earliest building and likely to predate 1749. It was probably extended in the late 18th or early 19th century, forming the western range. This includes a northern extension over the leat which is visible on mapping from 1839 onwards. The western range was extended to the south in the 20th century.
The eastern range is built of brick and stone and formerly had a slate roof. The building has collapsed since 2002 and the surviving wall fabric is degraded and compromised by later uses. The western range is brick built with a modern metal roof. There is no surviving mill machinery. Modern concrete floors and plinths for engines have obliterated any evidence of the wheel pit and any voids for cog pits in both the eastern and western ranges. The upper floors have been lost (eastern range) or replaced (western range).
The earlier mill building (eastern range) and later extension (western range) are of some significance, although the former is in a state of disrepair with 20th century additions and phases of rebuilding removing and obscuring evidence of earlier phases. Although the historic and cultural interest of the mill site is high, later changes, rebuilding and fabric loss have compromised what could be learnt of the building’s origins and its archaeological significance is considered to be a matter of some conjecture. However, the surviving standing building can be assessed and will remain visible under the proposed scheme. Given the level of later change, disrepair and collapse together with the lack setting-related features in the landscape to provide a context, the overall heritage significance of the building is considered to be low.

Sources / Further Reading

Associated Monuments: none recorded

Associated Finds: none recorded

Associated Events

• EDV9172 - Heritage Assessment of Talewater Mill, Talaton

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