NATIONAL MILLS WEEKEND
SAT. 9th and SUN. 10th MAY, 2009
SATURDAY
Clenchers Mill, Eastnor
11am-1pm. 1½ miles S of Eastnor church, beside Clenchers Mill Lane, leading to Bromsberrow. Free entry. Limited parking at ford, 100 yards away. This 18th century timber-framed mill, part of the Eastnor Castle Estate, has lost its water supply, but retains most of its machinery, and has been repaired. The upright shaft and the fine wooden gear on the first floor are original. The fairly large iron overshot waterwheel is of 1820 - probably the oldest in Herefordshire.
Hergest Mill, Kington
10am.-6pm. ½ mile down Hergest Road from Kington church, mill is on left. Free entry. Limited parking. An 18th century building on an ancient site. Most of the main internal, mid-19th century, iron machinery survives and part of the timber framing on the ground floor is much older. The fixed, lower millstones of the 4 pairs are still in place. There were once two overshot wheels in line, but these, the water supply and the ancillary machines have gone.
Clodock Mill, near Longtown
10.30am.-5pm. (& Sunday 2-5pm.) Mill entrance is by the W side of the bridge over the River Monnow near Clodock church. Limited parking. Donations (to Air Ambulance). Snacks available on Sat. Tea/coffee on Sun. A corn mill with a complicated history in a lovely situation, formerly fed by a leat from a weir below the church. The breast-shot waterwheel is under repair. The 19th century machinery is mostly of iron. The working parts and the ancillary machinery are complete and in good condition. Near the mill is a separate turbine, formerly generating electricity.
Rowlestone Mill
2-6pm. Entrance to mill is ¼ mile down hill to W (towards Walterstone from Rowlestone church) No parking at mill. Parking at village hall (by church). Donations (to Rowlestone village hall). Teas. This fairly remote corn mill in a steep wooded valley worked until the end of the war, but then lost most of its machinery. Its external overshot waterwheel will be turning. Water was taken from the top of a waterfall, some distance upstream, and the leat to the mill is dramatic.
SUNDAY
Arrow Mill, Kingsland
Sunday 11am.-2pm. At Arrow Green, 1½ miles S of Kingsland. Entrance is on W side of the A4110 road, just N of the bridge over the River Arrow, Limited parking. Free entry. Probably the best mill in Herefordshire, a large 17th century timber-framed building with a low breast-shot waterwheel – which should be turning. The 19th century machinery, mostly of iron, and 3 pairs of millstones, are still in place. Unique features are the machine for beating out clover seeds, driven by very old wooden gearing, and the original beaten-earth ground floor. There is a fine old flour dresser, and in the NE corner of the mill was a hop kiln.
Court of Noke Mill, nr. Staunton on Arrow
Sunday 10am.-4pm. On N side of road, halfway between Shobdon and Lyonshall. Turn into lane on W side of house. Large car park is within 50 yards on right-hand side. Donations (to Staunton church). Visitors may also walk round the water gardens. The water from these fed the wheel here at the adjoining farm. The main purpose was to grind feed for prize Hereford cattle. The 19th century low breast-shot waterwheel and complex iron gear drove one pair of millstones and farm machinery.
Mortimer’s Cross Mill, Lucton
Sunday 10am.-4pm. Mortimer’s Cross is on the A4110, 1 mile S of Aymestrey. The mill is on the N side of the B4362 road to Ludlow, just E of Mortimer’s Cross. Large car park Entry £4, concession £3.50, children £2.50. Free to English Heritage members. Tea and coffee. The waterwheel will be turning all day, but only grinding corn between 3.00 & 4.00pm. The only workable water-powered corn mill in Herefordshire, it dates from c.1750. The external breast-shot waterwheel and machinery were replaced a little over a hundred years later. A remarkably complete mill, with three pairs of stones, and all its machinery and equipment. Alongside once stood a paper mill. A footpath leads along the leat to the weir on the River Lugg.
Waterworks Museum, Hereford
Sunday 1-4pm. Good parking. S side of Broomy Hill, on W side of Hereford. (Follow brown signs from Barton Road, off N end of Greyfriars Bridge) Entry £5, Seniors £3, Children £1. Café. Water pumping station with engines in steam. Exhibits include 1920s wind-pump from Bridge Sollers, 1890 turbine-driven pump from Warwickshire, 1907 waterwheel from Carmarthenshire, tiny 1912 Pelton wheel from Ross on Wye, 1880 turbine from Dorset and 1937 turbine from Kington.
Staunton Mill, Staunton on Arrow
Sunday, 10am.-5pm. Down the hill from the church. Limited parking. Donations (Staunton church). Originally built as part of a grand scheme of corn milling with irrigation in the 1650s. The present 18th century building has mostly iron machinery, having been replaced a century later. There are two overshot waterwheels, each of which drove two pairs of millstones.
Mordiford Mill
Sunday 10.30am – 4.30pm. Do not park in yard in front of mill. Access is off B4224, 100 yards S of mill, which is on S side of Mordiford village. Limited parking. Free entry. A tall stone building of c.1840 on a steep site. The large overshot waterwheel drove 19th century iron machinery and 2 pairs of stones. The mill is being restored to workable condition, although there is no water supply at present.
The Corn Mill, Michaelchurch Escley
Sunday, 11am.-4pm. ¼ mile NW of Michaelchurch Escley church; where the road to Vowchurch crosses the Escley Brook. Limited parking. Donations (Save the Children). A house conversion retaining the main machinery on the ground floor. Most of this was renewed in iron in the mid 19th century, and has been restored. The interior iron overshot waterwheel will be turning.
Home Farm, Dulas
Sunday, 2-5pm. ¾ mile NW of Ewyas Harold, just off of the B road to Longtown. Good parking. Donations. A complete farm waterwheel, with drive to barn machinery and millstones, dating from the 1860s. A rare survival.
Clodock Mill, near Longtown
2-5pm. For details of this mill see entry for Saturday.
For any further details please contact Alan Stoyel (01544-230235)
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