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Summary

Former mill building, dating to at least the mid 17th century. Mill was bought by Bartholomew Gidley in 1638. No sign of the millrace or water wheel remains; it is thought that these were removed when the mill was converted into a farmhouse. Unclear precisely when this took place, but could be 20th century, if the horse-engine house on the barn is an indication that animal power was being used for the mill.

Location

Protected Status

• Listed Building (II) 1147641: GIDLEIGH MILL

Other References/Statuses

• Old DCC SMR Ref: SX68NE/212
• Old Listed Building Ref (II)

Monument Type(s) and Dates

• MILL (XVII - 1650 AD to 1699 AD)
• FARMHOUSE (XIX to Mid 20th Century - 1900 AD? to 1950 AD)

Full description

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

Depicted on the Tithe Map; 159 on the apportionment. Two buildings shown; mill building/farmhouse on the northern side of the yard and barn structure aligned north-south on the eastern side. No sign on the attached horse-engine house at this time.

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

'Gidleighmill' is depicted on the late 19th century historic map. Further small buildings have been added around the outer extents of the mill/farm. The barn to the south is shown with horse-engine house depicted on the western side, so it appears that the mill may have continued and been animal-powered at this time.

Department of Environment, 1987, Gidleigh (List of Blds of Arch or Historic Interest). SDV275393.

Farmhouse known as Gidleigh Mill. Probably late 17th century although the plan-form might suggest evidence of earlier origins. Granite stone rubble, plastered to front; granite stacks topped with 19th century brick; thatch roof.
Plan: 3-room-and-through-passage plan house built across the hillslope facing south-south-east, say south. The rear wall is exposed and shows no sign of a rear passage doorway. Both ends have gable-end stacks, the left one with a winder stair rising alongside to the front. The centre room has an axial stack backing onto the passage. The left room is thought to have been the kitchen. Two storeys.
Exterior. Irregular front fenestration, 4 first floor (with a fifth, left end, to the stairs), and 2 ground floor 19th and 20th century casements with glazing bars and the oldest with vertical iron glazing bars. The front doorway is a little left of centre and now contains a 20th century door. Roof is gable-ended. The rear wall shows a slight change of axis near the centre but no definite change of masonry. It also contains very low windows, again 19th century.
Interior is largely the result of an apparently superficial 19th century modernisation but plain carpentry detail where exposed. Roof not inspected.

Brewer, D., 1992, The Gidleigh Mill and Bradford Tinworks Leats Part One, 8 (Article in Serial). SDV361925.

Documentary source indicates Gidleigh Mill was contained in the Register of Bishop Grandisson dating from 1329; reference to the court case against Richard de Middelcote.

Grumley-Grennan, T. + Hardy, M., 2000, Gidleigh. A Dartmoor Village Past and Present, 43-47 (Monograph). SDV359347.

The farmhouse is a three-room-and-through-passage plan, built across the hill slope but was never a longhouse in the strict sense of the word and there is no sign of the millrace or millpond that would have been needed to drive a mill. Mill may have been animal driven; one of the buildings was a threshing barn with round house connected; indicating animal power was used. Apparently the original water wheel and millrace were removed when the extension to the right of the front entrance was built at the time the mill was converted into a farmhouse.
Mill was sold to Henry Endacott in 1733 and remained in the family for almost 200 years. In the 20th century, the property changed hands a number of times and in the late 1980s underwent an extensive refurbishment/alteration programme.

Bodman, M., 2015, Mills on the Teign. A gazetteer of water-powered sites on the Teign and Bovey and their tributaries, 72 (Monograph). SDV360401.

Old Gidleigh Mill SX 6740 8874. Medieval leat to power the mill at Gidleigh Mill ran from a spring in Watern Coombe via Wildtor Well, past Headon Hill, to Ruelake Pit and Whitemoor Marsh dropping down to the Forder Brook. By the 17th century this leat was no longer active and has since vanished from the landscape in places. Sometime after the 16th century a 12-mile long leat was constructed to Bradford Tinwork in Drewsteignton, leading off the Gallaven Brook near Rival Tor and supplemented by a leat from the Walla Brook. It respected the Old Gidleigh Mill by taking water from lower down the two streams.

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

Modern map shows some further additions to the farmhouse to the west.

Historic England, 2016, National Heritage List for England (National Heritage List for England). SDV359353.

3/173 Gidleigh Mill - 22.6.87 - II
Farmhouse. Probably late C17 although the plan-form might suggest evidence of earlier origins. Granite stone rubble, plastered to front; granite stacks topped with C19 brick; thatch roof. Plan: 3-room-and-through-passage plan house built across the hillslope facing south- south-east, say south. The rear wall is exposed and shows no sign of a rear passage doorway. Both ends have gable-end stacks, the left one with a winder stair rising alongside to the front. The centre room has an axial stack backing onto the passage. The left room is thought to have been the kitchen. 2 storeys. Exterior. Irregular front fenestration, 4 first floor (with a fifth, left end, to the stairs), and 2 ground floor C19 and C20 casements with glazing bars and the oldest with vertical iron glazing bars. The front doorway is a little left of centre and now contains a C20 door. Roof is gable-ended. The rear wall shows a slight change of axis near the centre but no definite change of masonry. It also contains very low windows, again C19. Interior is largely the result of an apparently superficial C19 modernisation but plain carpentry detail where exposed. Roof not inspected.

Sources / Further Reading

Associated Monuments

Associated Finds: none recorded

Associated Events: none recorded

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