The West Berkshire Historic Environment Record (HER) is the primary index of the physical remains of past human activity in the unitary authority of West Berkshire Council. Limited elements of the West Berkshire HER are available online via the Heritage Gateway, therefore it is not suitable for use in desk-based studies associated with development, planning and land-use changes, and does not meet the requirements of paragraph 194 of the National Planning Policy Framework (2021: 56). Please read the important guidance on the use of the West Berkshire HER data. For these purposes and all other commercial enquiries, please contact the Archaeology team and complete our online HER enquiry form.

Summary

Probable post-medieval water mill on the River Kennet, affected by fire in 1914 and rebuilt as a house in the 1930s, previously listed at Grade III

Associated Legal Designations or Protected Status

• Conservation Area: Tyle Mill

Other Statuses and Cross-References

• Berkshire SMR No. (pre 2000): 05119.00.000
  
• National Monuments Record No.: SU 66 NW 88
  SU 62464 69218
• Old Listed Building Ref (pre 1984) (III): Map No 29 14/8 Tyle Mill
  C.18 altered, modernised and extended. The mill building now part of house. Two storey and attic. North-east front painted weather board with hipped old tile roof, in symmetrical design with half hipped central glazed door, flanked by sashes and similar corner windows. Balcony to central door, the block built over mill stream on three arches extensions each end and other parts of building in brick. Interior?

Monument Type(s):

• WATERMILL (Post Medieval - 1540 AD to 1900 AD)
• PAPER MILL (18th century - 1701 AD? to 1800 AD?)
• HOUSE (Mid 20th century - 1937 AD to 1938 AD)

Full Description

A desk-based assessment <1> examined cartographic and documentary sources and undertook map regression for the site of Tyle mill. Some authorities have equated it with Russiford Mill, profits from which were given to Reading Abbey in the 12th century but Gelling <6> and Kemp <18> believe Russiford to be located elsewhere in Sulhamstead. Tyle Mill is documented until 1601, and may be so named after a tiled roof <6> or because tiles were made nearby. In 1748 it was a paper mill, according to an estate map, but it is included in a deed of 1834 simply as 'mills'. But sources for its recent history are contradictory. It burned down completely in July 1914 <2><3> and was completely rebuilt in 1937-8. Between these dates it appears to have been either a sawmill or a corn mill <1>.

The mill is marked as a corn mill on the first three epochs of Ordnance Survey mapping <8><9>, with a long narrow building across the river Kennet and a variety of smaller buildings attached at right angles or separately sited along the north bank of the river. A connection exists between the mill and the Great Western Railway 100m to the northwest, with a signal box presumably controlling the movement of goods. Some alterations have occurred by the time of the 4th Epoch OS in 1936 <10> including the removal of this line, and the building is no longer referred to as a mill.

Pevsner <11> records A S G Butler as the architect of Tyle Mill in 1937-8, and describes him as a disciple of Lutyens; the rebuilding is clarified in the Revised Guide <12> as a reconstruction of the old hipped-roofed weatherboarded mill. The house was previously listed at Grade III <5> but not listed after the review of the 1980s.

The Pastscape entry for Tile or Tyle Mills notes it was a roller flour mill built in the 1850s which was water driven and then steam-powered. It is not clear what the source for this information is.

An aerial photograph from 1952 <19> shows the mill and surrounding area.

Sources and further reading

Related Monuments

Associated Excavations and Fieldwork

If you have any comments or new information about this record, please email us.

Search results generated by the HBSMR Gateway from exeGesIS SDM Ltd.