Listed Building record MDO28503 - Mill House, Wimborne St Giles

An industrial building thought to have been originally a paper mill, built in the first half of the 17th century, with many later additions and alterations. The building was an inn in the 19th century and is now a dwelling. It consists of two storeys with attics and has brick walls and a tiled roof.

(14) Mill House (03011199), of two storeys with attics, with brick walls and tiled roofs, dates from the first half of the 17th century. Although now a dwelling house, and in the 19th century an inn, the first purpose of the building was evidently industrial; the mill-race passing underneath it and the large open fireplaces in each storey suggest that it was a paper mill (cf. Harnham Mill, Salisbury). The S. front comproses six equally spaced bays, each bay having in each storey a stone window of four square-headed lights. Those of the lower storey have sunk-chamfered surrounds; those above have ovolo mouldings; much of the stonework has been renewed. Between the two central ground-floor windows is an elliptical-headed doorway of uncertain date, possibly original, with a chamfered stone surround ending in shaped stops. The two middle bays are surmounted by a gable with an attic window of three lights. The gable W. end wall has a weathered brick chimneybreast flanked at attic level by two small oval openings, now blocked, with moulded brick surrounds. The chimneystack culminates in a pair of diagonally-set flues decorated with arabesques in cement. A similar chimneystack with four flues serving the eastern fireplaces has no such decoration. The N. elevation is partly masked by a modern range; where exposed, the wall is rendered and openings are modern. The gabled E. end has stone windows in the upper storeys and moulded brick coping with a shaped brick finial.

<1> Royal Commission on Historical Monuments (England), 1975, An Inventory of Historical Monuments in the County of Dorset, Volume V (East), 98 (Monograph). SDO129.

‘(14) MILL HOUSE (03011199), of two storeys with attics, with brick walls and tiled roofs (Plate 61), dates from the first half of the 17th century. Although now a dwelling house, and in the 19th century an inn, the first purpose of the building was evidently industrial; the mill-race passing underneath it and the large open fireplaces in each storey suggest that it was a paper mill (cf. Harnham Mill, Salisbury). The S. front comprises six equally spaced bays, each bay having in each storey a stone window of four square-headed lights. Those of the lower storey have sunk-chamfered surrounds; those above have ovolo moundings; much of the stonework has been renewed. Between the two central ground-floor windows is an elliptical-headed doorway of uncertain date, possibly original, with a chamfered stone surround ending in shaped stops. The two middle bays are surmounted by a gable with an attic window of three lights. The gabled W. end wall has a weathered brick chimneybreast flanked at attic level by two small oval openings, now blocked, with moulded brick surrounds. The chimneystack culminates in a pair of diagonally-set flues decorated with arabesques in cement. A similar chimneystack with four flues serving the eastern fireplaces has no such decoration. The N. elevation is partly masked by a modern range; where exposed, the wall is rendered and openings are modern. The gabled E. end has stone windows in the upper storeys and moulded brick coping with a shaped brick finial.
Inside, the western ground-floor rooms have intersecting ceiling beams, now cased; when exposed they were seen to have no mouldings. The centre room has an open fireplace with a plain oak bressummer and lightly chamfered stone jambs. The stairs are modern. The first-floor rooms are spanned by plain beams resting on roughly shaped timber brackets. The roof has four plain collar-beam trusses.’

<2> National Record of the Historic Environment, 213845 (Digital archive). SDO14739.

Record last edited

Aug 23 2024 4:10PM