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The Great Britain Guide

Watermills · South East England

Ifield Mill

Free admission

Ifield Mill is a watermill in the United Kingdom.

Ifield Mill, watermills in West Sussex

Wikimedia Commons contributors — see linked file page for photographer and licence licence

Plan your visit

Typical visit
30 min–1 h
Nearest railway station
Ifield · 0.6 km
  • Free entry
  • Family-friendly
  • Dog-friendly

About

Ifield Mill is a named watermill in the United Kingdom. Coordinates: 51.1138°, -0.2226°. This entry is part of The Great Britain Guide, a free, ad-free, open-data tourist directory.

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Protected designations

  • Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty: High Weald
  • Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty: Surrey Hills

Designations sourced from Natural England open data under OGL v3.

From the Wikipedia article

Ifield Water Mill is a 19th-century weatherboarded watermill in the Ifield neighbourhood of Crawley, a town and borough in West Sussex, England. Built on the site of an earlier, smaller flour mill, which itself replaced an iron forge—one of many in the Crawley area—it fell into disuse in the 1930s. The local council, which acquired the land for housing development in the 1970s, leased the mill to local enthusiasts, who restored it to working order. The mill and an associated house are listed buildings, and there is also a cottage (not listed) on the site.

Excerpt from Wikipedia under CC BY-SA 4.0. See the source article linked in Sources below.

Background

History

The area around Ifield was originally thickly wooded, forming part of St Leonard's Forest. Small brooks and tributaries of the River Mole run through the soil, which is an area of Weald clay between the sandier soil to the south and a narrow outcrop of limestone further north. At least one mill had been established in the village by the 13th century, although this was further north. No records of its ownership survive, but tithe documents refer to it several times and it may have belonged to the Lord of the Manor. The brook was dammed in the 16th century to form a mill pond, which provided power for the forge. By 1606, "a house, barn, mill, mill pond and two crofts of land known as Ifield…

Architecture

Ifield Water Mill is a tall, externally weatherboarded structure of three storeys, consisting of a brick-built ground floor and two gabled upper floors of timber. The slate roof has eaves carried out beyond the walls on brackets. The mill hoist, whose surrounding timberwork and brickwork was found to be very badly corroded during the restoration, projects from the north face.

Sourced from Wikipedia under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Coordinates
51.1138, -0.2226
County
West Sussex
District
Crawley
Parish
Crawley, unparished area
Postcode
RH11 0LS
Parliamentary constituency
Crawley
Established
1817
Nearest railway station
Ifield0.6 km

Sources

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Frequently asked questions

Where is Ifield Mill?
Ifield Mill is in West Sussex, South-East England, United Kingdom (postcode RH11 0LS), in the parish of Crawley, unparished area.
When was Ifield Mill built?
Built or established in 1817.
Is Ifield Mill a protected site?
Yes — Ifield Mill is part of the High Weald National Landscape (AONB) and the Surrey Hills National Landscape (AONB).
Is Ifield Mill free to visit?
Yes, Ifield Mill is free to enter.
How do I get to Ifield Mill?
The nearest railway station is Ifield, about 0.6 km away. Drivers can navigate to postcode RH11 0LS.