Following Ian and Rita’s contact with the Upper Nidderdale Landscape Partnership, we were met at Wath Mill by Tom and Angela of the Partnership, and Rob who guided us throughout the restored mill. Although our Group is familiar with old mills in our region, what is so remarkable about Wath Mill is its time capsule-like state of preservation.   The project was an initiative carried out by the Partnership working with land managers, farmers and the local community to retain such a heritage feature.

The mill began its industrial working on this land of Fountains Abbey in 1527, agreed by Abbot William, adjoining the Abbey’s grange at Sigsworth. When Henry VIII disbanded the monasteries in 1540, the assets of Fountains Abbey were sold to the former Lord Mayor of London Sir Richard Gresham, whose son spent following years selling them piecemeal.

As was the case with most old corn mills, progressive industries demanded change of use and, by about 1816 this mill had been rebuilt to work as a Flax mill, but when the flax industry declined lathes were installed to turn bobbins for the cotton industry.  Change of needs again in 1851 resulted in the return of milling wheat, oats, maize and barley, but twenty-seven years later a fire destroyed all but the outer walls of the mill.

Fortunately the premises had been insured against fire, so in1880 the mill was rebuilt and with the very latest in technology including the Daverio roller mill which superseded the low-grinding millstones.   This roller mill can be seen in the building today, and may well be the only one still existing in Britain.  The tenancy of the mill changed more than once in the years up to the First World War but apparently ceased to operate in 1937.  At the time of the Second World War the premises were requisitioned by the War Department for use as a workshop for repairing farm equipment in support of the war effort.

After the war the mill became unoccupied and neglected until, in 2017, The Upper Nidderdale Landscape Partnership, working with the owner, restored the flooring, beams and supports, the machinery “seems poised to crank back into life”.  The main building is of three floors with a separate room at the north end housing the water wheel and a mill yard to the south.  An adjoining building to the east is the drying kiln, alongside of which and facing onto the mill yard are the stables.  This information is contained fully in a first-class booklet prepared by the Upper Nidderdale Landscape Partnership at a very reasonable price, available at the Old Workhouse, King Street, Pateley Bridge, and the mill is open to the public during the summer months.

Our Group was undoubtedly impressed by Wath Mill, its history of almost 400 years, and the successful restoration.

The Toft Gate Farm cafe had been pre-warned of our group of seventeen looking forward to lunch, before driving on to the remains of the neighbouring 19^th century Toft Gate lime kiln.  The kiln has a rare design and its remarkable state of preservation clearly shows how it would have worked.

It was a tall square stone built structure with a central circular shaft through which crushed limestone was fed, with the aid of a steam crane.  Fuel, probably coal, was fired in eight fireboxes lower down the shaft to create a burn zone in the mid-shaft, to a temperature exceeding 800 degrees, such a temperature needed to release carbon dioxide, (unaware then of the damaging affect of those gases in the planet’s atmosphere.)  The burnt lime and coal ash was extracted at the bottom of the kiln, and waiting carts would transport the lime where needed across the dale for use on fields to increase the alkalinity of the soil and improve  fertility, or, when mixed with water, as a lime mortar for building.  This kiln has been identified by industrial archaeologists as ‘a continuous burn, dual feed, vertical kiln furnace.’  The 70 metre long flue to the substantial chimney up the hill was built of sandstone and limestone blocks, a remarkable feature.

The limestone would have been blasted out of the quarry walls and then broken by hand using picks and hammers to create fist-sized pieces for the kiln.  It would have been a hot noisy environment, the work hard and brutal, and often children helped break up the limestone.  There is evidence of a small reservoir built nearby, to provide required water to the site.

There are apparently no records of the kiln’s ownership.  However, the Ingleby family of Ripley Castle held limestone rights in the area from the 17^th century, so there may have been a connection.

The site is now part of the Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB).

This was a day of appreciation of those earlier tough industries and very harsh work environments, with a gratitude for the restoration and preservation of the tangible evidence.  We humbly made our way home.

Phyllida.  August 2023

Photos by Phyllida and Marion

Content uploaded by Keith P

Wath Mill is unusual in that:

• Mills are normally built next to a continuous supply of water. In this case a mill pond was built above the mill and the water fed into a cistern above the wheel. There is no sign of the outflowing water which is believed to go under the adjoining buildings (Sportsman’s Pub) and into the river;
• The grinding machinery is not direct drive. There are cog wheels on the rim of the Mill wheel, that, through a succession of gears and rods drives up to five millstones;
• The mill was estate owned, so the farmer worked with the miller to grind his product, as both were estate employees. The usual model is that the Miller would charge for his service and therefore set his own rate,

Toft Gate Lime Kiln caused discussion in that:

• The chimney is off-set by use of a flue. Other local examples of lime kilns have the chimney directly above the kiln. Was there something noxious in the limestone or the fuel that meant the process exhaust had to be vented away from the kiln as building flues would be expensive;
• The prevailing wind would blow the fumes back towards the kiln workers.
• Was the output product (slaked lime) of this particular kiln so valuable that it warranted investment in building a flue. Was it special enough to be used in decorative plaster for example.

Keith P