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Question
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I have noticed an old mill near the aquaduct at Avoncliffe. Have you any information about it?
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Question asked on
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13 November 2003
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Answer
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A mill on this site was first mentioned in 1585 and by 1712 it had expanded into two water powered grist mills and a water powered fulling mill, all under one roof. A few years later the fulling mill was being used as a mill for grinding dyestuffs for dyeing wool, but by 1737 it was againg used as a fulling mill for felting and thickening the cloth. The fulling mill was bought by the important clothier Francis Yerbury in 1740 and he, members of his family and others occupied it until 1845.
It is likely that the grist mill part was demolished when the railway line was built in the valley and from 1845 the fulling mill was converted to a grist mill with an undershot water wheel. From 1880 to the First World War the mill was used in the flock (bedding) business. The small stone building was probably built in the first half of the 19th century, with an extension dated 1883. It has iron breast shot waterwheel.
On the Westwood side of the river, between the Cross Guns and the river, is another mill that followed the pattern of corn to fulling to flock. The two lower floors of the main mill remain with some remains of a smaller building and a chimney stack.
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Bibliography
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Wiltshire and Somerset Woollen Mills, by K.H. Rogers. Pasold Research Fund Ltd., 1976, 0 903859 06 8
