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Summary

Lapford Mill was rebuilt following a fire in 1887. The waterwheel and machinery are complete.

Location

Protected Status

• Local List: Lapford Mill Complex
• Listed Building (II) 1425005: Lapford Mill and associated leat system

Other References/Statuses

• Old DCC SMR Ref: SS70NW/36

Monument Type(s) and Dates

• WATERMILL (Rebuilt, XIX - 1887 AD to 1887 AD)

Full description

English Heritage, 10/02/2015, Lapford Mill Complex, Crediton (Correspondence). SDV357851.

English Heritage has been asked to assess the Lapford Mill complex for listing.
'Lapford Mill' marked on 1906 Second Edition Ordnance Survey map.
MATERIALS: stone with brick dressing to the openings and the quoins, all under a slate roof.
PLAN: a rectangular building on an east-to-west alignment with a leat extending to the south-east.
EXTERIOR: the mill is three storeys with an attic. The front (north) elevation has an entrance with a timber stable door. There is one window to the left and two to the floor above; all are nine-pane casements. The eastern gable-end has a six-pane ground-floor window and a nine-pane window to the first floor and attic. The breast-shot water wheel is attached to the south elevation, and sits in a stone and concrete lined wheel-pit. Above the wheel is a six-pane ground-floor opening, two nine pane windows to the first floor and the remains of a metal shaft. The west elevation includes a first-floor taking-in opening with a timber stable door and concrete cill. Above is a projecting timber hoist loft with a two-pane window and a trapdoor for the hoist in the base, all on timber brackets supported by stone corbels. All of openings in the mill are topped by brick, double-course, segmental arches, and have quoins and cills. The concrete and stone-lined leat extends to the south east to a weir, with a restored sluice gate and stone-lined overflow.
INTERIOR: the mill machinery is arranged over three floors with the main shaft rising through centre of the building. Fixed timber ladders lead up to each floor. The ground floor is subdivided by timber partitions that enclose the iron axle that links to the external water-wheel, as well as the pit-wheel and spur-wheel. The second floor is open and includes the tun (containing the millstones), the associated hoists and wheels and a rotating flour bin connected to the chute above. The third floor has been converted to living accommodation and contains two former timber-partitioned storage bays on either side of the main shaft. Above this level is central timber catwalk and partitioned storage areas in the eaves.

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

Site visit in circa 1973. 19th century corn mill. Building of stone with three storeys. Higher breast shot wheel circa 12 foot by 6 foot. Iron axle and six wooden arms. Mill stream and weir being restored. All machinery intact. Owned by Mr. Stoneman of the post office, Lapford. Mill in process of restoration. Other details: Gazetteer.

Timms, S. C., 1983, Untitled Source (Personal Comment). SDV56298.

Seen from the train. Tall stone mill building with brick dressings. 19th century in appearance. Mill wheel still in situ.

Unattributed, 1995, Lapford Mill Waterwheel (Ground Photograph). SDV361665.

Photo of the waterwheel at Lapford Mill prior to restoration in 1995.

Bodman, M., 1998, Water-Powered Sites in Devon, 36 (Report - non-specific). SDV305931.

Other details: 129.

Watts, S., 2002, Untitled Source (Personal Comment). SDV56299.

Lapford Mill was substantially rebuilt after a fire in 1887. The machinery is complete with two pairs of millstones. The waterwheel has been recently restored.

Bodman, M., 2003, Watermills and Other Water-Powered Sites in Devon, 251 (Report - Interim). SDV325576.

Documentary references to a sale of four tenements in Lapford in 1787, including Mill Tenement, and to the fire in 1887. Breastshot water wheel, which has been restored, has 'J Dicker, Millwright, Chagford and W G Bodley, Bonhay, Exeter' on the shrouds and 'W G Bodley, Bonhay, Exeter' on the nave. The mill ceased work in 1948. Other details: Draft Report.

Mid Devon District Council, 2014, Mid Devon Local List Register of Heritage Assets - West, Lapford Mill Complex (Local List - Register of Heritage Assets). SDV356892.

Lapford Mill Complex.
Description: Lapford mill complex includes the workings of the Mill within the building.

Grid Reference: 272973/107840
Source: Lapford Parish Council

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

Lapford Mill Complex.
Importance: Historic set of buildings.

Ordnance Survey, 2015, MasterMap (Cartographic). SDV357601.

Historic England, 2015, National Heritage List for England, 1425005 (National Heritage List for England). SDV358087.

A late-C19 water-powered corn mill and leat system, rebuilt on the site of an earlier mill, closed in 1948 and restored in the late-C20.
See list entry description for full details.
Date first listed: 17th April 2015

Historic England, 21/04/2015, Lapford Mill House Complex, Lapford Mill House, Lapford, Crediton, Devon (Correspondence). SDV358120.

Lapford Mill is recommended for listing at Grade II.
REASONS FOR DESIGNATION DECISION
Lapford Mill, a late-C19 corn mill, and the associated leat system is recommended for designation at Grade II for the following principal reasons:
* Historic interest: as a good example of a water-powered corn mill which retains a significant proportion of its historic fabric;
* Intactness: the mill machinery is remarkably intact including a waterwheel, gearing system and tun which aid understanding of the operation of a water-powered corn mill;
* Functional interest: the function of the mill remains evident in the surviving historic fabric of the building and intact machinery;
* Group Value: it has a strong group value with the listed mill house (Grade II).

Sources / Further Reading

Associated Monuments

Associated Finds: none recorded

Associated Events: none recorded

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