Summary
Poltesco Mill is a small, two-storeyed, water-powered corn mill, built of serpentine rubble, with an attached lean-to of later date, situated close to and backing on to the Poltesco stream, next to the bridge on the road to Ruan Minor.
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Most Recent Monitoring
None Recorded
Monument Types
- WATERMILL (17th C - 1601 AD to 1700 AD)
- CORN MILL (17th C - 1601 AD to 1700 AD)
Description
Poltesco Mill is a small, two-storeyed, water-powered corn mill, built of serpentine rubble, with an attached lean-to of later date, situated close to and backing on to the Poltesco stream, next to the bridge on the road to Ruan Minor. The present mill building is likely to date from the 18th century but probably includes fragments of earlier structures. The gabled roof dates to the 19th century and was formerly thatched. (Unwin 1989; The National Trust Vernacular Buildings Survey Lizard: Poltesco Mill: PP/20).
The mill is important becaue, despite a period of disuse and neglect, it remains virtually complete. The mill machinery illustrates the mechanical development that took place in Cornwall from the mid-18th century to 1925. At the time of the 1842 Tithe Apportionment the mill holding consisted of a dwelling house, site 92522, mill cottage, water mill, outbuildings, orchards and some sixteen acres of land. The mill is the most southerly surviving mill in Britain (ibid).
The mill was restored to working order in the 1970s and 80s by the present tenant Anthony Hitchens Unwin, an experienced millwright who has repaired, used and maintained the property to the present day.
References
- --- SNA64943 - National Trust Report: Johns, Charles. 2003. Preliminary Archaeological and Historical Survey - Poltesco Valley, Grade & Ruan Minor, Cornwall; Cadgwith & Poltesco.
Other Statuses and References
None Recorded
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Related Records
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