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Summary

Yeo Mill was destroyed by fire in 1912 and rebuilt. It continued in use until the 1940s. Has a 14ft diameter overshot waterwheel that drove two pairs of stones. Machinery apparently complete.

Location

Protected Status: none recorded

Other References/Statuses

• Old DCC SMR Ref: SS82NW/26

Monument Type(s) and Dates

• WATERMILL (Post Medieval to XXI - 1540 AD to 2009 AD (Between))

Full description

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

'Corn Mill' marked on 1880s-1890s 25 inch Ordnance Survey map to the north of 'Yeo Mill Bridge'.

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

Gristmill. Other details: Site visit c1973.

Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings, 1982, Mills Index (Un-published). SDV12998.

Mill complete in 1965.

North Devon Archaeological Society, 1989, North Devon Watermills (Monograph). SDV337776.

Yeo mill, Molland, West Anstey. The overshot waterwheel is constructed of cast iron with wooden buckets and placed on the outside of the building. It is 22ft in diameter and 3ft and 6ins wide. The iron rim bears the name Luxton (?), Hatherleigh. The wheel is in working order and only used for hoisting sacks. There are two pairs of millstones in situ. The mill is three storeys high with a house attached. It is constructed of stone, roofed with slates and is in good condition. The 4 ft by 1ft 6ins deep leat takes its water from the Yeo. The grist and flour mill was working in about 1940. The buckets to the wheel have been recently repaired by the owner with the aid of wooden sleepers from the disused Taunton to Barnstaple railway. Other details: Site visit 1974.

University of the Third Age, 1995, Watermills in North Devon 1994, 117 (Monograph). SDV74915.

The owner is attempting to restore the mill to working order. The overshot wheel is 14 ft. In diameter and has been renovated, with a sluice to control the supply of water from the cleared leat. One set of stones is in position; a second set is to be reset. Other operating parts seem to be in order. The leat has been cleared for five yards from the sluice at the wheel but the sluice at the leat entrance was not accessible. The mill was refurbished after a fire in 1912, and was in use up to 1946 (at one period grinding Russian barley). It was complete when visited in 1965.

Bodman, M., 1998, Water-Powered Sites in Devon, 35 (Report - non-specific). SDV305931.

Other details: No 103.

Bodman, M., 2003, Watermills and Other Water-Powered Sites in Devon, 269 (Report - Interim). SDV325576.

A grist mill in West Anstey was mentioned in 1611 and 1641. In 1826 Yeo Mill is described as a 'good Water Grist Mill' with a 'dwelling house, barn, stable, outhouses, curtilages and about 75 acres. It was further described as being 'in full work' consisting of 'two pairs of stones'. Destroyed by fire in 1912. When visited in 1996 the waterwheel and launder were in good repair. The crown wheel and belt drives also survive.

Sources / Further Reading

Associated Monuments

Associated Finds: none recorded

Associated Events: none recorded

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