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Summary

Derelict three storey stone-built farm mill. It appears to represent a later 19th century rebuild or expansion of an earlier building which is shown on an estate map of 1760 and the 1839 Tithe Map.

Location

Protected Status: none recorded

Other References/Statuses

• Old DCC SMR Ref: ST01NW/65

Monument Type(s) and Dates

• WATERMILL (Built, Post Medieval to XIX - 1540 AD to 1900 AD (Between))

Full description

Ordnance Survey, 1904 - 1906, Second Edition Ordnance Survey 25 inch Map (Cartographic). SDV325644.

Waterwheel depicted on the south-east corner of the farmyard at Ayshford, adjacent to an open-fronted building backing onto the yard.

Bodman, M., 1998, Water-Powered Sites in Devon, 7.51 (Report - non-specific). SDV305931.

Bodman, M., 2003, Watermills and Other Water-Powered Sites in Devon, 38 (Report - Interim). SDV325576.

Humphreys, C. + Wapshott, E. + Green, T., 2013, Barns at Higher Ayshford Farm, Burlescombe, Devon: Results of a Desk-Based Assessment and Historic Building Recording, 16-17, 22-25, 34, Figs 11-15 (Report - Survey). SDV351661.

The mill building, now derelict, forms the south-east corner of the yard. It is a three storey gable ended stone built structure with a large stone walled wheel pit at its southern end. An inserted wall divides the interior of the building into two compartments but there are now no internal floors or roof structure. A large section of the western wall, facing the farmyard, has also gone. The southern part of the ground floor is paved with brick.
The use of water power at Ayshford Court is evident from at least the 18th century. Header ponds are shown on the estate map of circa 1760 and the 1839 Burlescombe Tithe Map. A sales notice for Ayshford Court Barton in the Sherborne Mercury, 11th September 1815, refers to 'a capital set of mills and threshing machine on the premises, with a never failing supply of water'. The location of this machinery is not known for certain but could have been on this site or perhaps in the small building depicted on the south side of the yard on the 1760s map but which had gone by the time of the Tithe Map. A plaque on a stone pillar apparently indicates building or rebuilding on the farm in 1860 which would be a good date for the installation of a farm wheel for driving machinery for threshing and producing animal feed [a pair of millstones is shown on Figure 12 lying against the west wall of the mill building (not mentioned in text)]. The alterations to the adjoining building (6) on the south side of the yard suggest that the mill building is a later 19th century development but the apparent truncation of walls to the south by the insertion of the wheelpit suggest that it represents a rebuild or expansion of the building shown on the earlier maps. The small feature shown on the 1905 Ordnance Survey map in the corner of the yard probably represents the present wheelpit. The waterwheel was removed in the 1960s. Map object based on this source.

Ordnance Survey, 2014, MasterMap (Cartographic). SDV355681.

Derelict building shown. Map object based on this source.

Bampton, J., 31/01/2014, Higher Ayshford Farm, Westleigh, Devon (Report - Watching Brief). SDV356617.

The groundworks subject to archaeological monitoring and recording occurred within the remains of the mill, linhay and open fronted shed that comprise the south-east half of the courtyard.

All the floors were set directly in to the natural; a reddish-yellow compact clay with occasional to moderate sub-rounded stones. The floor in the mill was reduced and no archaeological features were revealed.

Sources / Further Reading

Associated Monuments

Associated Finds: none recorded

Associated Events

• EDV6191 - Historic Building Recording of Barns at Higher Ayshford Farm (Ref: BAC12)
• EDV6485 - Watching Brief, Higher Ayshford Farm, Westleigh, Devon (Ref: BHA13)

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