Building record 1405/1/1 - Nether Alderley Mill and Dam Wall

<1> Various, Cheshire History, 11/64, Bott O J P, 1983 (Journal/Periodical). SCH811.

Nether Alderley Mill. A mill has occupied this site since 1391.

<2> Department of the Environment, 1971-2005, List of Buildings of Special Architectural or Historic Interest, Vol 4, p.130 (Report). SCH1934.

Present building dates to late C16, with machinery of 1850 & 1871, & was restored 1967-70 for National Trust. Ashlar buff-pink sandstone & stone-slate roof. West front has long cat-slide roof with 4 louvred raking dormers. Both gables have herringboned timber truss & in left side is rebated 4-light chamfered stone mullion & in right side chamfered stone doorcase. Interior: Has 4 levels through which 2 massive oak posts pass, supporting arch-braced Queen post roof trusses, with wind-braced purlins & ridge. Two overshot water wheels, lower activated by tail water from upper. Two wheels now drive two pairs of French stones. Attached to the south was a drying kiln, perforated floor now concreted over. Immediately behind mill is ashlar dam wall, contemporary with mill.

<3> Lancashire & Cheshire Antiquarian Society, 1883 -, Transactions of the Lancashire & Cheshire Antiquarian Society, p.75-6 & p.52-3, Norris J H, 1965 (Journal/Periodical). SCH3293.

Originally 2 mills divided vertically across roof slope,but later both wheels connected.

<4> Cossons N & Hudson K, 1971, Industrial Archaeological Guide, p.73 (Book). SCH1478.

Mill in use until 1939 & fell derelict; was taken over by NT 1950. Restoration began 1967.

<5> Ordnance Survey, 1870-1982, Ordnance Survey Archaeological Record Card, SJ87NW5, 1977 (Index). SCH2487.

<6> Matrix Archaeology, 2012, Nether Alderley Mill, Nether Alderley, Cheshire: Historic Building Recording, R3328 (Client Report). SCH6802.

A detailed English Heritage Level IV building recording exercise of this estate corn mill revealed that the earliest mill structure survived as a basement, and was probably dated to 1595-7, on documentary grounds. The mill was rebuilt on a larger scale, probably in about 1746, and possibly by the engineer James Brindley. The remains of the existing brick corn kiln may have been erected at the same time, or shortly afterwards. All of the surviving mill machinery dates from the mid to late 19th century, and was refurbished by the eminent millwright Cyril Boucher in the 1960’s. The water management system, adjoining the mill, was also investigated and recorded, and is thought likely to be contemporary with the rebuilding and refurbishment of the mill in c.1746 as a consequence of the in-situ datestone and fabric analysis.

<7> CFA Archaeology Ltd (Manchester), 2024, The Old Hall, Nether Alderley, Cheshire: Archaeological Recording and Monitoring and Historic Building Recording, R4807 (Client Report). SCH9690.

Archaeological recording and monitoring were carried out in 2021 and 2022 at the Old Hall, Nether Alderley, in advance of the construction of an extension to the Old Hall building and dredging of the associated moat and lake. The mill dam wall was constructed in at least two phases, likely contemporary with the late 16th-century mill, and was supported by three varieties of later phase buttresses, possibly contemporary with the 18th-century construction of Alderley Hall. The moat wall was in generally good condition, surviving around the exterior of the Old Hall. It was of a sturdier condition near the Mill, with buttresses and a greater number of stone courses creating a taller wall. This is indicative of the connection between the Old Hall, its moat, and the Mill. It is possible that the moat was linked to the operation of the Mill, making this site an important domestic and industrial area in the late medieval and early post medieval periods.