See important guidance on the use of this record.

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

Summary

Wistlandpound farm mill occupies part of the eastern range of the 19th century model farmstead

Location

Protected Status: none recorded

Other References/Statuses

• Old DCC SMR Ref: SS64SW/149/3
• Old Listed Building Ref (II): 97065

Monument Type(s) and Dates

• WATERMILL (XVIII to XIX - 1800 AD to 1900 AD (Between))

Full description

Department of Environment, 1987, Kentisbury, 49 (List of Blds of Arch or Historic Interest). SDV64434.

Attached mill house to the rear of the barn retains its overshot mill wheel.

North Devon Archaeological Society, 1989, North Devon Watermills, 52 (Monograph). SDV337776.

Wistlandpound farm mill. The waterwheel is constructed of cast iron with wooden buckets (larch) and placed under cover at the side of the mill. It is 18 feet (5.5 metres) in diameter with wooden arms 3 feet (1 metre) wide. There is one set of mill-stones, 3 feet (1 metre) diameter, which is driven by an iron spur wheel, pit wheel with wooden cogs, etc. The machinery and the waterwheel are housed in a large building and all is in good working order. Water is conveyed in a launder from a mill pond which is supplied by springs. It was a grist mill. The farm formerly belonged to the Fortesque estates. When the farm was sold in the 1960s the purchaser decided to rebuild the waterwheel, which is still in regular use for grinding cattle food. The wheel and machinery are thought to be still there, but not in use.

University of the Third Age, 1995, Watermills in North Devon 1994, 113, 120 (Monograph). SDV74915.

Very little exists. The two mill ponds, the waterwheel pit and the tail race tunnel are in good condition. The two millponds are clean and are used by fishermen from Mill Park caravan estate. The pond sluice gates are still operable. A diverting sluice gate can be seen in the front car park, but it is in very poor condition. The wheel pit, discovered in 1989, is located beneath the billiard room floor and is in excellent condition, beautifully lined with bricks. From the dimensions of the pit, the wheel would have been 14 ft in diameter and 3ft wide. It was a "high breast shot" wheel system. No wheel is in evidence, but the axle bearings are in position. The tail race from the wheel pit is also in good condition. It consists of a 20in diameter brick lined tunnel approximately 90 metres long, which rejoins the Sterridge river. The leat connecting the two ponds and the mill has been filled in to accommodate a car park but evidence of its location can be seen. The mill was last used as a woodworking mill in 1933 and as a mill wheel supplying electricity to Watermouth Castle via a 3in diameter cable in 1934. As a working mill, no sleeping or living accommodation was offered. It was a workshop producing timber and wooden products, using wood from the Watermouth estate. The large ferris wheel used at the Wembley Stadium exhibitions in 1921 and 1924 was made here. The first domestic building on the the site dates from about 1936.

Bodman, M., 1998, Water-Powered Sites in Devon, 34 (Report - non-specific). SDV305931.

Whistlandpound Farm with a waterwheel. Other details: Number 42.

Bodman, M., 2003, Watermills and Other Water-Powered Sites in Devon, 268 (Report - Interim). SDV325576.

The mill is part of the complex of barns restored by the Calvert Trust to provide a holiday centre for the disabled and their families. The 18 foot (5.5 metres) diameter wheel located below ground level was used to power machinery in an adjoining barn including a chaff-cutter, apple-crusher and saw bench. The mill operated until the 1980s. The leat had been rerouted from the sluice at the pond and the machinery was displayed in the gallery of the barn which had been converted to an assembly room. The wheel was awaiting restoration.

English Heritage, 2009, Historic Houses Register (List of Blds of Arch or Historic Interest). SDV343599.

Courtyard range of model farm buildings at Wistlandpound farm Listed in 2nd June 1986. Built in the mid 19th century incorporating a mill-house to the rear the barn in the eastern range retains an overshot wheel. Other details: LBS Number 97065.

Sources / Further Reading

Associated Monuments

Associated Finds: none recorded

Associated Events: none recorded

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