Description

BEETHAM

454/9/49 MILL LANE
01-JUL-74 BEETHAM
(East,off)
Heron Corn Mill and attached Mill Race

II*

Water-powered corn mill, with attached grain dryer and water supply mechanism and launder. Late C18 or earlier, remodelled and enlarged C19, restored as a museum in 1975. Rubble stone, slobbered, with a slate roof laid to diminishing courses.
PLAN: L-shaped complex with main mill range aligned parallel to the River Bela, and ancillary range at right angles to the north-west.
EXTERIOR: River frontage to south-east with dressed stone plinth and semi circular arch-headed double doorway to lower level. 3 multi-pane upper floor windows with flat-arched heads. Wide south-east gable with timber launder leading from sluice gates with rack and pinion mechanisms. Narrow extension to north-west incorporates corn drying kiln with roof louvre. Single bay north-east elevation with a C20 window frame to each floor and a board door.
INTERIOR: The restoration of the mill interior was completed in 1975, and contains a Lowder stone frame on the stone floor and complete associated machinery, driven by a 14ft overshot water wheel. Line shafting in the attic powers the sack hoist which raises grain to the highest part of the building, to be delivered by gravity onto the 4 pairs of millstones below. The roof structure is supported on trusses with curved knee braces to the principles.
HISTORY: The mill site is thought to have had medieval origins, rights to erect and run a corn mill having been granted to the Canons of Coningshead in 1220. The present mill operated until 1955.
A water-powered corn mill on a mill site established in 1220 and operated until 1955, with a complete and working interior, including a rare survival of a Lowder frame.

Listing NGR: SD4962179969

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Heron Corn Mill at Wikipedia
• Heron Corn Mill official website
• Wikidata Q15223731

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

Recommended Books

• 
  Cork: City and County (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of Ireland)
• 
  Surrey (The Buildings of England) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Old House Handbook: A Practical Guide to Care and Repair by Hunt. Roger ( 2008 ) Hardcover
• 
  Period Property Manual (New Ed)
• 
  Suffolk: West: The Buildings of England (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Essex: Buildings of England Series (Buildings of England) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)