Monument record MDR4929 - Wigwell Grange Mill (site of), Wirksworth

SK 315546 Wigwell Mill. Site of mill that went with the 13th century medieval Wigwell Grange. Now occupied by two cottages. The 6" OS map of 1877-8 shows the mill and there are extensive remains of canals and fishponds. (1) The earliest documentary reference to the mill occurs in 1605 but there is little doubt that the site had been occupied for several centuries at that time. The Darley Cartulary makes no mention of acquiring the mill, so it seems reasonable to suppose that it was built when the Grange became popular as a summer resort for the Abbot and Canons. It is situated about half a mile to the east of Wigwell Grange. Little remains of the original mill and part of the watercourses are dry. The two cottages which now occupy the site would probably have been built in the late 19th century, as the OS map surveyed in 1877-8 shows a different plan from the modern one. The oldest part of the mill has been altered a great deal, but there is evidence of a triple vaulted basement with the floor some six feet below ground level and with a stone staircase leading to the upper floors. A square opening in the wall on the water course side would have taken the shaft of the water-wheel. Stone steps outside this building incorporate a circular millstone. (2) Wigwell Grange Mill. Wigwell Grange, about half a mile to the east of Wirksworth, probably dates from the 17th century and was owned by the church. In the grounds was an extensive system of fish ponds and canals and the water from the Meerbrook flowed through a mill pond to an old corn mill. George Oakley was the miller in 1857. The mill was shown on an 1884 Ordnance map but it has now largely disappeared although, at least until recently, a stone wall with a hole for the waterwheel shaft and some mill stones used as steps remained. (3)