Monument record MDO2417 - St Andrew's Mill/ Melmoth's Mill, South Street/ Ludbourne Road, Sherborne

An entry in the Sherborne Abbey Cartulary dated to 1145 mentions a mill next to the church of St. Andrew. The position of St. Andrew’s Mill is marked on maps dated 1570 and 1733. A revised copy of the latter map dated 1802 shows the that the mill was known as Melmoth’s Mill. A mill leat is marked on the map which was only finally filled in c. 1951. The mill is documented up to 1814 when it was converted to the production of Silk.

Lindsey Archaeological Services conducted an archaeological desk based assessment of land at South Street/ Ludbourne Road, Sherborne during 1997 in advance of re-development of the site as Sainsbury’s Supermarket.

Documentary research revealed that an entry in the Sherborne Abbey Cartulary dated to 1145 mentions a mill next to the church of St. Andrew [1][2]. The position of St. Andrew’s Mill is marked on maps dated 1570 and 1733. A revised copy of the latter map dated 1802 shows the that the mill was then known as Melmoth’s Mill [1]. A mill leat is marked on the map which was only finally filled in c. 1951[3].

The mill was given to the monks of Sherborne Abbey in the 12th century by Bishop Roger as compensation for his acquisition of two other mills previously belonging to the monks. The mill was situated on a meander in the River Yeo and is documented up to 1814 when it was converted to the production of Silk. Stone buildings incorporated into the modern Wincanton Engineering works are probably remnants of the silk mill [1].

A subsequent watching brief on the Sainsbury’s development site recorded that stonework 1.6m below the floor of the later silk mill was momentarily exposed but it was not possible to record it fully. This lay outside the store footprint, approximately 4-5m SE of the corner of the silk factory and Olde Cottage, and was not removed. The archaeologist present thought it possible that this represented remains of the old St. Andrew’s Mill [4].

<1> Field, N, 1997, South Street/ Ludbourne Road, Sherborne, Dorset. Archaeological desk top study. (Unpublished document). SDO10390.

<2> Mills, A D, 1989, The place-names of Dorset, Part 3, p.368 (Monograph). SDO10391.

<3> Fowler, J, 1951, Mediaeval Sherborne, 108 (Monograph). SDO10392.

<4> Tann, G, 1998, South Street/ Ludbourne Road, Sherborne, Dorset. Archaeological monitoring during groundworks for a supermarket development (Unpublished document). SDO10393.

Record last edited

Sep 20 2022 3:01PM