Building record 264/4/1 - Mill Hollow (formerly Sulgrave Mill)

House, formerly mill house. C18 with C19 attic storey. Coursed limestone rubble, slate roof brick stacks.

{1} House, formerly mill house. C18 with C19 attic storey. Coursed limestone rubble, slate roof brick stacks. L-plan. 2 storeys, attic and cellar, 3 bays. Entrance in second bay from left has stone hood on brackets and C20 six-panel door in plair stone frame. 2-light casement window with wood lintel to left. 3-light casement window with wood lintel to right. Similar window in right bay and one-light window with wood lintel in second bay from right. 3-light windows with wood lintels in right bay and second bay from right on first floor. 2-light window in left bay. 2-light casement windows with wood lintels in attic, except in second bay from right with one-light window and wood lintel. All have C20 wood casements and leaded panes. Chamfered spine beam. 4-panel doors. Wing extending from left side. Squared coursed limestone and ironstone, slate roof, 2 storeys and attic, 2 bays.Entrance in left bay with plain stone arch and plank door, and casement windows with wood lintels. Interior: House has chamfered spine beams in ground floor room and C18 four-panel doors. Interior of left wing not inspected but said to have the remains of an iron mill-wheel of c.1840 in the right bay and the oven of former bakery in the left bay. John Brockliss, the owner of the mill, ordered machinery from Boulton and Watts in 1788. Letters concerning this order and specifications by Boulton and Watts are in Birmingham Public Library.

{3} Watermill; post medieval mill house.

{4} Although presenting a single storey appearance along the track on the west side, from the east the mill building is of three storeys at the north end, reducing to two storeys at the south end where the ground rises. This building has stone walls and the slate roof has a gable end at the south and a hipped roof at the north. Towards the north end of the east side there is a clear vertical line in the stonework indicating an extension from the original building. At the south, the mill is joined by a range of single storey brick buildings, one of which was formely the bakehouse. Adjoining the north end of the mill and at right angles to it is the mill-house, of similar materials of construction, three storeys high and four bays across. Internal inspection impossible but on a previous visit it had been noted the waterwheel was ruinous and due to expense of reinstatement, likely to be removed.

{6} History:
1345 Reference to a watermill at Sulgrave in 18th of Edward III
1539 Property including the mills at Sulgrave were granted to Lawrence Washington when he bought th e Manor of Sulgrave from Henry VIII
1666 The watermill and windmill at Sulgrave had passed from the Washington family when Thomas Whitton sold both to Edward Brockliss, of Coaton Mill, Culworth
1783 John Brockliss of Sulgrave, miller, baker, farmer and maltster insured £150 on the watermill and mill house adjoining, stone and slated; £100 on utensils and stock therein; and £50 on a bakehouse adjoining the mill house 'not communicatio'
1788 Agreement between John Brockliss of Sulgrave Mill and Boulton & Watt to erect a steam engine I nthe mill (this was the first steam engine in Northamptosnhire)
1797/9 Steam engine removed and sold to Hodgson and Co, Battersea
1822-57 Mill oened by James Cole, originally of Chipping Warden but latterly of Sulgrave
1885 Water mill, with the windmill, advertised to be let
1919 Waterwheel stopped due to one bearing giving way so that wheel caught side of wheel pit
1928 Described as'workable with necessary repais'
1977 Mill had been cleared of most machinery although three-quarters of the waterwheel was still in position
1987 Mill sold for £105,000
2002 In June, following considerable internal alterations and construction of a mock waterwheel inside, advertised for sale at a guide price of £1.1million.

{7} Undated photo;

{8} Scaled drawing for the installation of the Boulton and Watt engine.

<1> Clews Architects, 1980s, Database for Listing of Historic Buildings of Special Architectural Interest: Northamptonshire, 4/154 (Digital archive). SNN102353.

<2> List of Buildings of Special Architectural or Historic Interest ("Greenback"), F03 (unchecked) (Catalogue). SNN45262.

<3> Starmer G.H., 1982, National Register of Industrial Monuments, (part checked) (Catalogue). SNN563.

<4> STARMER G., 2002?, Northamptonshire Watermills Survey 2001 - 2002 (H-Z), p.112 (unchecked) (Report). SNN105521.

<5> Mowl T.; Hickman C., 2008, The Historic Gardens of England: Northamptonshire, (unchecked) (Series). SNN106082.

<6> STARMER G., 2002?, Northamptonshire Watermills Survey 2001 - 2002 (H-Z), p.112 (unchecked) (Report). SNN105521.

<7> Photographs of buildings in Sulgrave (Photographs). SNN113448.

<8> Howes, H, 2022, Water and Steam Mills of Northamptonshire…and the birth of a flourishing flour milling industry, p. 2-3 (Book). SNN114227.

Record last edited

Oct 19 2022 9:02AM