Watermill (remains of), Low Elm House, Bransdale

Summary

Remains of a small water mill at Low Elm House.

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Description

From NT VBS Yorkshire 1008:
Remains of a water mill, to the NW of Elm House. There is no evidence for a mill on the Faversham Estate map of 1828, but the mill pond (NTSMR 30789) and a number of new buildings had appeared by the time of the OS 1854 6". The main building lay to the E of the wheel pit discussed below, but surface remains would suggest a small ancillary structure to the W as well. The mill appears to have been short lived, and had been demolished to make way for a cart shed at the N end of Elm House by the late 19th century and the mill pond appears disused on the OS 1912 25".
The principal remains of the building consist of masonry remains visible beneath the surface of the lawn of the Elm House garden (NTSMR 30787), lying to the W of a deep wheel pit; the stone flagged floor survives. The line of this pit continues S to merge with/become the retaining wall W of the house. The outflow from the pit runs through a culvert, the course of which has not been traced, to date. The supply was from a higher level at the north-west end of the pit, served by the mill pond (NTSMR 30789).
From its dimensions, and from the height at which the leat approaches, it seems likely to have been a breast-shot wheel. The level ground between the cartshed and the wheel pit must have had some kind of roofed, enclosed structure over it, housing the mill machinery, and in order that the milling might be carried out out of the weather. This may account for the vent-like holes in the SW wall of the cartshed (NTSMR 31319), and for a mortice in the NW gable of the main house (NTSMR 31318) [1]-[5].

From TSDAS24
"A silted up mill pond north of Elm House and several millstones in front of the house indicate the site of a water mill here. Mr R H Hayes, who reports the site, suggests that the mill may have been working from the 17th/18th century to the late 19th century. One of the millstones, with slots for metal clamps, is 23-24 inches in diameter and 6 inches thick, and other worn examples are of similar dimensions. In about 1950 Mr Alan Precious saw a millstone dated 1790 in a small beck nearby.
Half of a broken rough-out quern, approximately 10-12 inches in diameter and 6-7 inches thick, probably of Crinoid Grit, was noted on a wall to the north" [6].

Site visit 07/11/1995:
The wheelpit is sub-rectangular and its lower courses are constructed of large well jointed stone blocks, the S wall being somewhat higher than the W and including the now dry entrance to the tail race. The E wall is less well repaired, having been tumbled at its S end. There appears to be built masonry adjacent to the E wall in the centre of the pit, while the original blockwork can be seen to the N. The exposed portions of the flagstone floor of the building to the W appears to retain significant traces of wear patterns.
The mill was supplied by two leats (see detailed description under NTSMR 30789). The mill stones on the garden site mentioned by Adam Menuge had disappeared before the 1995 site visit. Three stones remain visible inside the cart shed at the north end of Elm House [7].

Site visit 01/01/1997:
The pit was emptied during the summer of 1996, and the remains of perhaps 1/5th of a wooden water wheel were found preserved in its lower depths [8]-[12].

Property Survey information [13]:
The implication made in the VBS, that the mill must be post 1828 as it is not shown on an estate map of this date, is erronous [14]. The map shows that the mill complex, including the pond, lies just within the freehold farm belonging to John Ruddock, and so no structures would expect to be shown. Ruddock's land is assessed as being tithe free in 1845, and it is possible that it was part of a former monastic (Rievaulx) holding. It is also possible that the mill has medieval origins, particularly given the two sources of water supply (see NTSMR 30789).

Site visit 23/04/2000:
The water wheel was supplied from the NW, and there is a stone slab at the N end of the pit which projects over the edge of the pit by 0.3m. The W side of the slab has a groove (the other side is broken) and this might have held a wooden or iron penstock which would have channelled water to the wheel at mid-breast height. A fallen gate stoop also lies across the E side of the stone slab.
The wheel pit is sub-rectangular, and measures c.4.5m long by 0.5m wide, and the W side is stepped,presumably to allow access to the bearings. As note in 1997, the remains of the wheel is still rotting in the base of the pit. The tail race runs off S at an angle, to emerge after some 12m to feed a trough (NTSMR 32240) before returning underground, probably to flush the adjacent privy (NTSMR 31324).
A small structure is shown on the OS 1912 map, attached to the centre of the E side of the dam, but the exposed flagstone floor noted in the VBS and later is now buried beneath lawn. There is very slight earthwork depression corresponding to the building noted above on the W side of the pit, but an exposed length of timber survives. The site as a whole has been tidied up since the 1987 VBS, and much of the overgrowth and other vegetation has been cut back and loose stonework collected, perhaps resulting in the loss of some historical detail [15]-[20].
Some of the mill stones were rescued by the present tenant of Colt House Farm, and they still reside at the back of one of this buildings [21].

Other references [22] [23].

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