MSO10555 - Horner Mill, Horner (Building)

Corn mill, now disused. Mid C19, probably on site of earlier building. Red sandstone random rubble, steeply pitched double span pantiled roof, some pantiles glazed; independently roofed lower wing to left, tall stone stack rising at rear. Plan: parallel range, overshot waterwheel west end, 2-bay wing east end, site slopes away to west. Three-storey main block, 2-storey wing, all C19 leaded wooden casements, some in poor condition at time of survey (July 1984), two 2-light left, ground floor segmental headed 3-light window right of stable door; main block second floor two 3-light windows, catslide roof right over projecting bay; first floor two 3-light windows below pantiled pentice roof carried on corbelled projections, right segmental headed loft opening, ground floor 5-light window in pantiled projection, door right, double doors in projection right, weatherboarded top, projecting plinth forming platform in front of mill. Right return remains of overshot wheel. Interior not seen, said to contain remains of mid C19 mainly shaft machinery and waterwheel machine. (Photograph in NMR). [1] English Heritage Listed Building Number: 265325. First Listed on 05/06/1985. [2] Stone, Random rubble walls. Gabled roof [3] The mill probably dates to 1839 and is part of the Holnicote Estate, owned by the National Trust since 1944. It had been used as a barn by Horner Farm for many years and was in very poor condition. Modern agricultural practices meant the mill was unsuitable for use by the farm and so a 50 year lease was offered for sale by the National Trust in May 1989, for conversion to a private house. The lease remained unsold until it was taken on in October 1990, with works beginning in November 1990. The works aimed to maintain the mill's appearance and extensive repairs to the existing leat (with a new 150 metre section of tail leat in 1994 to bypass the original silted-up tunnel) restored the water supply to the mill wheel, a 5.49 metre diameter overshot with 56 buckets, although it was only permitted to turn occasionally. Further legal issues and a collapsed section of leat have meant the mill is currently waterless. [4] The building was visited in May 2012 as part of the rapid condition survey of Exmoor's Listed Buildings 2012-13. It received a BAR score of 6. [5] Corn mill, now disused. Mid 19th Century, probably on site of earlier building. Red sandstone random rubble, steeply pitched double span pantiled roof, some pantiles glazed; independently roofed lower wing to left, tall stone stack rising at rear. Plan: parallel range, overshot waterwheel west end, two bay wing east end, site slopes away to west. Three storey main block, two storey wing. [6] This record was enhanced as part of the National Record of the Historic Environment to Exmoor National Park Historic Environment Record data transfer project. [7] The mill is mentioned in a publication on the industrial archaeology of Somerset. [8] The mill was assessed as part of the rapid condition survey of Exmoor’s Listed Buildings 2018-19, receiving a BAR score of 6. [9]