Stretton Watermill is a working historic

watermill A watermill or water mill is a mill that uses hydropower. It is a structure that uses a water wheel or water turbine to drive a mechanical process such as milling (grinding), rolling, or hammering. Such processes are needed in the production of ...

in Stretton,

Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a ceremonial and historic county in North West England, bordered by Wales to the west, Merseyside and Greater Manchester to the north, Derbyshire to the east, and Staffordshire and Shropshire to the south. Cheshire's county t ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. It is owned and administered by

Cheshire West and Chester Cheshire West and Chester is a Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. It was established on 1 April 2009 as part of the 2009 str ...

Council. The mill is recorded in the

National Heritage List for England The National Heritage List for England (NHLE) is England's official database of protected heritage assets. It includes details of all English listed buildings, scheduled monuments, register of historic parks and gardens, protected shipwrecks, an ...

as a designated Grade II*

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

and the mill machinery is considered to be of national importance.

History

The earliest record of the mill is when it changed ownership in 1351. In the 16th century the mill was owned by the Leche family. The oldest surviving structure of the building date from 1630, at which time it was

timber-framed Timber framing (german: Holzfachwerk) and "post-and-beam" construction are traditional methods of building with heavy timbers, creating structures using squared-off and carefully fitted and joined timbers with joints secured by large wooden ...

and had a single breastshot wheel. The cobbled ground floor surface is thought to pre-date the 1630 building. In 1770 the mill was extended by William Leche, the roof was raised and the thatched roof replaced by

slate Slate is a fine-grained, foliated, homogeneous metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash through low-grade regional metamorphism. It is the finest grained foliated metamorphic rock. ...

s. The timber framing was encased in

weatherboarding Clapboard (), also called bevel siding, lap siding, and weatherboard, with regional variation in the definition of these terms, is wooden siding of a building in the form of horizontal boards, often overlapping. ''Clapboard'' in modern Americ ...

and

sandstone Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks. Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicates) ...

, and an

overshot wheel A water wheel is a machine for converting the energy of flowing or falling water into useful forms of power, often in a watermill. A water wheel consists of a wheel (usually constructed from wood or metal), with a number of blades or bucket ...

was added. This work is commemorated by an inscribed stone on the west corner of the building. In 1852 the timber breastshot wheel was replaced by a similar type of wheel in

cast iron Cast iron is a class of iron–carbon alloys with a carbon content more than 2%. Its usefulness derives from its relatively low melting temperature. The alloy constituents affect its color when fractured: white cast iron has carbide impuriti ...

. The mill finally ceased operation in 1959. The mill machinery was restored by Cyril & John Boucher during 1975–7, with partial funding from the

Science Museum A science museum is a museum devoted primarily to science. Older science museums tended to concentrate on static displays of objects related to natural history, paleontology, geology, industry and industrial machinery, etc. Modern trends in mu ...

. The mill has been a museum since 1977.

Description

The mill is constructed on a timber-framed core, and is cased in weatherboarding and sandstone. There is a brick extension, and a chimney in stone and brick. The roofs are

d. The mill is in two storeys, with an attic for storing grain. The windows are all casements, some with shutters. There are two working waterwheels, one on the outside, the other inside the building. The external wheel is a timber overshot wheel, which drives largely 18th-century wooden machinery. The internal wheel is in cast iron, and is breastshot; it drives Victorian mainly cast-iron machinery. The upper storey, which contains four

millstone Millstones or mill stones are stones used in gristmills, for grinding wheat or other grains. They are sometimes referred to as grindstones or grinding stones. Millstones come in pairs: a convex stationary base known as the ''bedstone'' and ...

s, is entered by a steep internal stairway, and the grain loft is accessed by a ladder. Outside the mill are stone steps leading up to the

mill dam Mill Dam is a wetland in western Shapinsay, in Orkney, Scotland. This water body was not shown on the 1840 survey map of the island, since it is a man-made creation from a damming in the 1880s.G.T, Masters, ''Orkney, Approaches to Kirkwall'', HMS ...

, and a stone-lined millrace with a

sluice Sluice ( ) is a word for a channel controlled at its head by a movable gate which is called a sluice gate. A sluice gate is traditionally a wood or metal barrier sliding in grooves that are set in the sides of the waterway and can be considered ...

Present day

The site operates as a museum, picnic area and visitor centre. It is open to the general public on advertised days during April–September between 1pm and 5pm, and whilst access to the site is free, there is a small charge for a guided tour of the mill's interior if required. In addition to the working mill, there is a shop and exhibition area in the former stables, outdoor picnic tables, and accessible toilet facilities. Guided tours for groups (both during and outside normal opening hours) can be arranged in advance, and there is an education programme available for schools. Both storeys of the mill are fully accessible to wheelchair users, the upper storey via a ramped external pathway.

References

External links

{{commons category, Stretton Watermill
Official website
Museums in Cheshire Watermills in Cheshire Mill museums in England Grade II* listed buildings in Cheshire Tourist attractions in Cheshire

History

Description

Present day

See also

References

External links