Monument record MDO10 - The Old Malthouse, Church Lane, Abbotsbury

The Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society made a full record of the remains of the water mill during the winter of 1984-5, although not finally completed till November 1985. This work revealed that the building known as the 'old malthouse' was actually the abbey watermill.

Figured in Hutchins under the name of the Malt House. <1>

Shed and walling east of Abbey Farmhouse. The shed in rubble and ashlar and with pantiled roof is of 14th century origin with a good two-light window in east gable. There are various square headed slits in the east and south walls. It is partly of two storeys. The roof is probably 18th century. There are two 14th century doorways. Recess with ledge at SE. The walling stretching south has remains of windows and evidently formed part of a destroyed building. <2>

East outbuilding. This is a subsidiary abbey building of uncertain attribution. It formed an L-shaped block of which the E-W range is still in use. The building is two-storeyed and dates from the second half of the 14th c; it formerly extended further to the west. <3>

A stone building with a pointed archway on the southside and slit windows on the south and east sides. A large window with stone tracery is still extant high up on the east side. Now used as a wood store. <4>

The Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society made a full record of the remains of the water mill during the winter of 1984-5, although not finally completed till November 1985. This work revealed that the building known as the 'old malthouse' was actually the abbey watermill.

Most of the fabric of the standing building dates to the 14th century. It probably housed two identical water wheels side by side in a central chamber, each driving a pair of mill stones. This arrangement may have replaced an earlier mill on the same site. An east wing of uncertain function was added in the late 14th century. After this the double wheeled arrangement was replaced by a single wheel, possibly in the mid 15th century. The building was converted to a dwelling following the dissolution and remained as such until the mid-18th century. <5-6>

<1> Moule, Rev W S, 1946, Abbotsbury The Church Abbey and Other Points of Interest, 17 (Monograph). SWX1589.

<1.1> Shipp, W, and Hodson, J W (eds), 1863, The History and Antiquities of the County of Dorset. 3rd edition. Volume 2, 694 (Monograph). SWX1269.

<2> DOE (HRR), 1951, List of Buildings of Special Architectural or Historic Interest: Dorchester Rural District 1951 (Scheduling record). SWX2329.

<3> Royal Commission on Historical Monuments England, 1952, An Inventory of Historical Monuments in the County of Dorset, Volume I (West), 6 (Monograph). SDO97.

<4> Swatridge, G C, Various, Field Investigators Comments GCS, F1 GCS 23/05/1955 (Unpublished document). SWX1169.

<5> Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society, 1986, Proceedings of the Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society for 1985, 173 (Serial). SDO85.

<6> Graham, A H, 1986, The Old Malthouse Abbotsbury: the medieval watermill of the Benedictine Abbey; Proceedings of the Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society, 103-125 (Article in serial). SWX782.

<7> Graham, A H, and Farmer, D O, 1991, Medieval and post-medieval millstones from the Old Malthouse, Abbotsbury, Dorset; Proceedings of the Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society, 141-142 (Article in serial). SWX721.

<8> National Record of the Historic Environment, 450449 (Digital archive). SDO14739.

Record last edited

Aug 22 2024 2:40PM