Monument record 1132/1 - Wheelock Mill

<1> Ormerod, G., 1882, The History of the County Palatine and City of Chester (Book). SCH1389.

Wheelock mill. First mentioned in 1316.

<2> Lancashire & Cheshire Antiquarian Society, 1883 -, Transactions of the Lancashire & Cheshire Antiquarian Society, 75-6/71 Norris J H 1965 (Journal/Periodical). SCH3293.

The pond is now ploughed but clearly defined. On the opposite side of the road is a pile of rubble containing several large stone blocks said to have carried the wheel. Mill was demolished before 1900 and records go back to 1474.

<3> Dodgson J McN, 1970-2, 1981, The Place-Names of Cheshire, Vol 2, p.274 (Book). SCH3228.

<4> Various, Cheshire History, Vol 11, p.65, 1983 (Bott O J P) (Journal/Periodical). SCH811.

<5> Chester Archaeology, 1993, A534 Wheelock Bypass: Desk-Based Assessment, August 1993 (Client Report). SCH4302.

An archaeological assessment undertaken in 1993 in advance of the A534 Wheelock Bypass gives the following information about Wheelock Mill. It was first mentioned in 1316 as the 'molendinum de Quelok' (see source 3, Dodgson) but it may have been established earlier in the medieval period. The mill was demolished before 1900, the last structure to occupy the site was brick built and its remains were still visible in the 1960s (see source 2). The mill pond had dried up by that date and was being ploughed, then later it was used for pasturage. Field inspection of the site of the mill in 1993 revealed no evidence of the former building in the small clump of trees which now occupy the site. The mill pond is completely silted although its banks are still clearly visible in the field to the south. The road sits on top of the mill dam explaining the number of bends in the road at this point. To the north of the dam the mill leats are still visible; the western-most remains open as a drain, although the eastern one has become silted.