Building record 2853/0/109 - Kings Cliffe Mill (Parish Hall)

Watermill, now parish hall. c.1815 and later C19. Squared coursed limestone with Collyweston slate roof.

Watermill, now parish hall. c.1815 and later C19. Squared coursed limestone with Collyweston slate roof. T-shape plan. 2- and 3-storeys. Main front is a 3-window range at second floor, of cast-iron casement windows with glazing bars under gauged stone heads with keyblocks. Stable door, to ground floor right, has similar head. Similar doorway, to far right, originally gave access to wheel house. First floor window, to left, has C20 casement and was originally a door. Right hand corner is chamfere at ground and first floor. Mill race passes under left side of mill and has a shallow arch-head with parapet above. Rear wing is 2-storey and was used as a granary, now truncated. Single-storey range, attached to right of main front, now forms part of parish hall accommodation. Interior not inspected but may have remains of water wheel. A mill was recorded in 1650. (RCHM: An Inventory of Architectural Monuments in North Northamptonshire: p100)

{3} In 1650 the corn mill, described as being two mills under one roof, probably stood on the site of the present structure. By 1813 it was in a poor state of repair and in 1814 it was leased to Thomas Jelly on condition that he spent £600 on its rebuilding, and the work was completed by 1815. On the east a bridge over the mill race is of single span; on the west is a granary, now truncated, and on the south was formerly a bakehouse, both buildings being later than the mill itself.

{5} The current mill was erected in 1815 (probably on the site of an earlier mill which had been in existence since 1650).

{6} 1086 Domesday Survey records a mill at Clive rendering only 12d (probably an animal-operated mill, not a watermill).
1422-61 In the reign of Henry VI there were two mills, one a water mill and the other described as corn mill.
1650 Two corn-mills under one roof.
1777 Thos. Gamble, Jun. miller, King's Cliffe.
1813 Described as 'in a poor state of repair'.
1814 Leased to Thomas Jelley on condition that he spent £600 on the rebuilding and the work was completed by 1815.
1909 'The watermill stands on the Willow Brook and is driven by that stream'.
1914 No entry for this mill in trade directory and subsequent issues.
1984 Mill standing empty, waterwheel and mill machinery removed.
2000 Planning application for conversion to dwelling.
An embanked leat extends for at least 150m to the west of the mill, where a sluice diverts some water to the original course of the brook. In 2001, the remains of an iron breast shot waterwheel were observed in the wheel chamber.

{7} Undated photo;

<1> Clews Architects, 1980s, Database for Listing of Historic Buildings of Special Architectural Interest: Northamptonshire, 5+12/123 (Digital archive). SNN102353.

<2> List of Buildings of Special Architectural or Historic Interest ("Greenback"), G12 (unchecked) (Catalogue). SNN41470.

<3> Royal Commission on The Historical Monuments of England, 1984, An Inventory of The Historical Monuments in The County of Northampton, P. 100 (Series). SNN77384.

<4> Ballinger J., 2000, Kings Cliffe Mill, (unchecked) (Photographic prints (COL)). SNN101316.

<5> Ballinger J., 2000, Kings Cliffe Mill, (unchecked) (Notes). SNN101315.

<6> STARMER G., 2002?, Northamptonshire Watermills Survey 2001 - 2002 (H-Z), p. 79 (Report). SNN105521.

<7> Photographs of buildings in King's Cliffe (Photographs). SNN112705.

Record last edited

Oct 13 2021 10:33AM