Listed Building record MDR8808 - Longford Mill, Longford

Disused water mill known as Longford Mill. A three-storey brick building with a tile roof, adjacent to a large mill pool. Two mill wheels are still complete. The mill race is still in existence. It is at present [in November 1970] being converted to a dwelling but retaining external features and mill wheels. (1) Water-driven corn mill, previously let as an agricultural store and converted to a dwelling in 1972. Red brick, dated 1857, gables, with Staffordshire Blue tiled roof. Main block, two-storeyed, two windows with cambered arches, contained in 2-storey ogival recesses flanking two Dutch doors, one to each storey. Bracketed iron hoist and door in gabled dormer over windows have tripartite mullions with lozenge lead glazing. Two storey annexe to left, one window in cambered arch to each floor. First storey storage annexe to right. Interior: wheel 13' 6" diameter, 4 pairs of stones and a drying kiln. (2) Burdett's map of 1791 marks a corn mill at the location of the present mill building. This is a Grade II listed building, situated close to the confluence of the Sutton and Shirley Brooks which feed the mill pond. There is a by-pass weir to the west of the mill, with the wheel(s) driven from the water contained in the large mill pond which is set behind the mill building. The early mill was alleged to have been wooden and is said to have been burnt down in the early 1830s. The present replacement, a brick building with tiled roof and leaded windows, was designed and built by Richard Arkwright in 1837. The corn mill appears as such on Ordnance Survey maps until 1962. The two-storey building, with large attic garners, had a brick wheelhouse at the eastern end, built over the iron waterwheel. The sluice mechanism was originally controlled from within the mill but is now operated by controls adjacent to the wheel. The wheelhouse was unfortunately demolished in the 1970s. At the western end of the building a kiln was attached to the mill; this apparently had ceramic tiles. The machinery was of Victorian design made of cast iron. There were four pairs of stones. The wheel is 14ft in diameter by 8ft 3ins wide and has recently been restored to full working order. On the conversion of the mill to a house in the 1970s, the rest of the machinery was removed and transferred to Cromford Corn Mill. The sluices still exist for a second wheel which was built inside the mill building but no details are available on its construction or when it was removed. For the last few years of the mill's working life, up to 1956 when it ceased commercial operation, its main product was animal feed stuffs. It was then used to store chicory prior to house conversion in the 1970s. (3) Longford Mill and attached weir are Grade II listed. Watermill, now house. Converted 1972. Red brick with brick and stone dressings, plain tile roof with overhanging eaves and brick gable stacks to rear pitch of the roof. Two storeys plus attics with lower two storey wing to west, three-bay plus single bay wing to west. To the front of the mill, below ground level, is a brick retaining wall, with a small segmental arch to the west to take the water under the mill, and a large segmental arch to the east. The iron wheel is now placed against the east gable wall of the mill, having been removed from the interior. The interior has no machinery left. The rear of the mill has an original sluice gate to the west side, attached to the west side of the stone retaining wall for the mill pond which continues to the west until it reaches a stone weir, to the east side of which is a sluice gate with a separate channel. (4) Ornate brick mill building with date stone now in domestic use. Slate roof, former hoist, leaded windows and iron water wheel in situ to the right of the building. The building is constructed across the mill leet and the weirs and the pond remain intact. A millstone has been placed adjacent to the front gate as an ornamental feature. This is an ancient milling site. (5)