Site Event/Activity record ECH6752 - Heritage Statement in Support of Planning Application at Crotia Mill Farm, Mill Lane, Weston, Crewe

A heritage statement and desk-based assessment was produced in 2019 in support of a proposal for development at Crotia Mill Farm. The site comprises a traditional farmstead typical of the Cheshire plain and includes a watermill, farmhouse, shippon, carthouse and pigsties. Currently all the buildings, except the farmhouse, are redundant. The buildings are not nationally designated but are considered to have heritage significance, additionally, below ground remains associated with the watermill may exist. Proposals include the redevelopment of the watermill, but the demolition of the farmhouse and pigsties. There is mention of a 'mill field' in documentary sources dating to 1371, and another dating to 1398, refers to 'le moleyn de schawe'. The earliest map evidence for a mill on site dates to 1777 on the county map produced by Burdett. An estate map of 1815 indicates the mill was the property of Sir John Delves Broughton, and formed part of the the Doddington Estates. On Bryant's map of 1831, the site is labelled 'Cowshall Mill' and as 'Crowfall Mill' on the 1846 Weston Tithe Map. OS mapping dating to the 1870s name the site 'Croatia Mill (Flour)' and depict the mill and farmhouse as a large, irregular C-shaped range, with mill pond to the south and tail race to the east. There are also ancilliary buildings to the north-west and south-east. By the third edition OS map, circa 1908, the farmhouse, mill and pigsties are depicted much as before, but the farm buildings are much altered; this arrangement is close to that which currently exists. The heritage assessment concludes that the watermill is the most significant heritage asset within the the Crotia Mill complex, but also that the shippon, cart house, farmhouse and pigsties, are all also of significance. (1)