Listed Building record MDO12066 - Priory Mill Building, Priory Lane, Bridport

Former main mill building at Priory Mills. It is a three storey stone building with an internal engine house at the north end and an external boiler house. Built 1838.

Former mill building of Priory Mills. It is a three-storeyed building of eight bays, built of hammer dressed stone with pitched slate roof. It is dated 1838 on the north end. The south end has a vertical joint to the south of the apex, this may be the remains of a former attached tower. At the north end of the building is an internal engine house with an intact arched window to the east elevation and a full-height projection to the west elevation. The engine house cross wall is marked by a straight joint. The broad-gabled single storey building attached to north end is possibly an external boiler house. There is a mark from an earlier two-storied gabled building on north-end wall of the mill. (1) (2) (3)

Internally, the floors are of heavy-timbered construction, with thick planks set directly on the heavy beams, without the use of joists. This was to improve the strength and fire resistance of the mill (2).

<1> National Monuments Record, NMR Monument Record, SY 49 SE 156 (Index). SDO9937.

<2> Williams, M, 2006, Bridport and West Bay. The buildings of the flax and hemp industry, 29-30 (Monograph). SDO10498.

<3> Jones, B V and Williams, M, 2002, Bridport: An Assessment of Townscape & Buildings, 57 (Unpublished document). SDO10497.

Record last edited

May 4 2016 5:04PM