Listed Building record MDO5990 - White Mill, Mill Lane, Shapwick

A water-powered mill built in the later 18th century, on the site of an earlier mill. The keystone of the arch over the mill race is dated 1776. Both the three-storey mill and adjacent mill house are built of brick with tiled roofs. The name 'Wytemull', identified with this site, is first mentioned in documents dating from 1341. Repair work in 1989 revealed an internal wall which appeared to have once been an external wall for an earlier building of 17th/18th-century date. The present mill was converted to steam power in 1866 and went out of use in 1885. Formely part of the Bankes Estate, the building is now owned by the National Trust and open to the public. The record for this monument has been enhanced with support from Wessex Water.

WHITE MILL house and water-powered corn mill, now disused, are respectively of two and of three storeys and have brick walls and tiled roofs. The house appears to be of the mid 18th century and has a symmetrical N.E. front of three bays with a centre doorway and with plain casement windows in both storeys. The mill, adjacent on the S.W., has segmental-headed openings and the walls have brick dentil cornices. The keystone of the archway over the mill-race is dated 1776. <1>

<1> Royal Commission on Historical Monuments (England), 1975, An Inventory of Historical Monuments in the County of Dorset, Volume V (East), 59 (Monograph). SDO129.

'(3) WHITE MILL (95810062), house and water-powered corn mill, now disused, are respectively of two and of three storeys and have brick walls and tiled roofs (Plate 27). The house appears to be of the mid 18th century and has a symmetrical N.E. front of three bays with a central doorway and with plain casement windows in both storeys; the plan is of class T. The mill, adjacent on the S.W., has segmental-headed openings and the walls have brick dentil cornices. The keystone of the archway over the mill-race is dated 1776.'

<2> Ordnance Survey, Ordnance Survey 1:10,000 scale map, 1978 (Map). SDO17396.

(ST 95810062) White Mill (NAT)

<3> Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society, 1990, Proceedings of the Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society for 1989, 118 (Serial). SDO89.

‘During repair work at White Mill (ST 95810062) in March 1989 the structural engineer required three foundation inspection trenches to be excavated. Archaeological observations were made during this work.
The present brick building is late 18th-century with 19th-century additions. The key stone above the mill race bears the date 1776. The building material of the mill race buttress and lower leat walls is limestone ashlar. The scars of a double undershot waterwheel are visible on the walls of the wheel housing but the wheel was removed in the 19th century and replaced by an engine. Much of the mill machinery is preserved within the building although the mill went out of use in 1885.
The mill is probably mentioned in Domesday as part of a large royal manor but is first named as Wytemull in 1341 (Mills 1980, 178). It is frequently mentioned in documents up to the present century.
Two of the inspection trenches were excavated against internal brick walls and revealed nothing of note. The third trench (2.1 m by 0.6 m) was excavated against a length of wall on the south-west side of the mill house. This wall appeared to be survival from an earlier building as it was the only part of White Mill constructed of heathstone. This appeared once to have been an exterior wall which was later covered in by the construction of a brick outshot.
Below a scree of concrete lay a brick floor and below the bricks was a layer of sand containing creamware and white saltglaze pottery dated to 1780-1800. Below this lay a narrow brick wall 0.23 m wide and 0.23 m deep which abutted the main wall at right angles. This cut a cobbled yard of modular flints below which was a layer of clay and chalk which continued to the base of the heathstone wall. Verwood and tinglaze pottery from this layer indicated an early 18th century date. The wall extended 0.4m below ground surface and was built on a clay layer containing pottery which indicated a late 17th- early 18th century date. This covered another layer of clay which was excavated for 1.0m below gorund surface but continued to a greater depth. This layer seems to have been deposited to raise the ground level and contained small fragments of abraded 16th-17th century pottery.
Thanks are due to Jo draper for examining the pottery from the site. ‘

<4> Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society, 1994, Proceedings of the Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society for 1993, 165 (Serial). SDO93.

‘White Mill, Shapwick lies beside the River Stour north-west of Wimborne (ST95810062). It consists of a brick mill house with adjoining mill and bakehouse. The building is of great value because it houses timber mill machinery, much of which dates to the rebuilding of the mill in 1776.
The buildings and machinery at White Mill are to be refurbished during 1994, with a view to opening the mill to the public in 1995. Alterations to the fabric will be the minimum possible to conserve the building and allow safe public access.
An extensive photographic record has been compiled. Detailed drawings of the machinery have been made by Martin Watts the millwright commissioned to carry out repairs. Plans and elevations of the mill and mill house have been drawn and are held at Kingston Lacy Estate Office.
Documentary work has been carried out and the Bankes Family Archive contains detailed accounts of the mill, leat and flood gates in the 18th and 19th centuries.
In May 1993 the north-east and south-west cog pits of the mill, either side of the water wheel pits were excavated to their brick floors. The pits had been used as a rubbish tip after 1866 when the mill was converted from water power to steam power. The material within the pits includes a wide variety of pottery, glass bottles, farming tools and mill equipment mostly of the late 19th- early 20th centuries. The south-western pit contained a pile of coal which was presumably abandoned after the steam engine was removed from the site.
The leat of the mill has also become filled with debris from the late 19th century and part of this debris was excavated to a flagstone floor at the entrance to the stone lined water wheel pits. It revealed that the centre of the leat if filled with debris up to 1.2m above the leat floor. The silt in the south-west wheel pit, was partially excavated to reveal the bottom of a timber water wheel which was recorded and left in situ.
Archaeological monitoring will take place during the repairs to the mill in 1994.’

<5> Powlesland, I, 2010, Report on the watching brief undertaken at White Mill, Shapwick, Dorset between 20/09/09 - 23/09/09 (Unpublished document). SDO15280.

<6> Historic England, Historic England Archive, OP10426 (Index). SDO14738.

White Mill is mentioned in records dating from the 12th century; the present buildings date from the 18th century. The mill is now in the care of the National Trust. Much of their conservation of the site dates is based on this image. The reverse reads 'Presented by W.R.Hobbs, tennent'. The Hobbs family were tennents between 1910 and 1993.

<7> National Record of the Historic Environment, 209570 (Digital archive). SDO14739.

Record last edited

Feb 9 2023 10:53AM