| Summary: | The ruins of Babeny Mill are sited 8m W of the Walla Brook, adjacent to and N of the road where it crosses the river at Babeny Bridge. The building is sited on a levelled stance at the foot of a slope against which the rear, NW wall forms a revetment. The walls are constructed from a combination of large earthfast blocks and coursed stone and stand to a maximum height of 1.7m. The front, SE wall is now missing though its position is marked by a small scarp of approximately 1m high. The overall length of the building is 11.6m NW-SW (sic) and the end walls are 5.7m on the SW end and 11m on the NE. A small amount of tumbled masonry lies on the floor of the interior.
The wheelpit was sited internally on the N corner of the building, oriented NW-SE. It is not currently visible beneath tumbled stone and leaf mould but its position is obvious by the location of an earthen leat embankment which stands above the outer NW corner. The leat survives as a patchy, narrow terrace of up to 1.5m wide which may be traced up to its source on the Walla Brook at SX67347526 where a fall in river bed height marks the probable position of the headweir.
Near the mill the leat is revetted with stone on the lower side where the flow of water was turned through 90 degrees onto the leat embankment.
Within the building are 3 large granite slabs, each with rectangular slots cut into a flat surface which accommodated fixtures for mounting machinery. A fourth stone of similar character has been re-used as a gatepost nearby to the S.
The dimensions of the stones are as follows:
sited against the nw wall the slab measures 1.3m long by 0.6m wide and has a rectangular slot placed centrally on the upper, level surface measuring 0.45m by 0.1m by 0.05m deep.
Sited centrally within the building an elongated slab 2.2m by 0.5m wide and 0.3m thick. Placed centrally on the upper, level surface is a rectangular slot measuring 0.6m by 0.1m and 0.05m deep. A second slot of 0.1m wide runs from the centre of the first and connects to the outer right edge of the slab, forming a 'T' shape slot.
A stone now used as a gatepost 2m S of the mill, measuring 1.3m by 0.35, has a similar 'T' shape slot which connects to the opposite left edge of the stone. These 2 stones together clearly formed a pair.
Sited within the building an approximately rectangular slab 1m by 0.8m by 0.4m thick. This stone has a slot 0.7m by 0.1m 0.09m deep cut into its southern, vertical face. |
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