More information : By the Dissolution, Byland Abbey had two mills in its immediate vicinity: a water-cornmill actually within the precinct (SE 57 NW 129) and a fulling mill not far away. It seems, however, that the fulling mill was the original abbey cornmill, for 14th-century and earlier charters mention 'the pool of the monks' mill' (singular) as a boundary mark for the confines of Thorpe Grange, which then extended further west than the present township of Thorpe-le-Willows, into Wass territory. The context of these boundary descriptions and an examination of the ground show that Low Pasture House at SE 552 783 fulfils the conditions for the mill site. The farmhouse itself lies in an artificial hollow, and there are traces of a race, a small weir and a large dam upstream of it. (1)
Between October and November 1997, MAP Archaeological Consultancy Ltd carried out a watching brief of development works at Low Pasture Farm. Evidence was recorded for a number of water channels and a stone bridge, all associated with the corn mill. Domestic occupation was represented by tile hearths and floor surfaces. The corn mill was superseded by a more sophisticated stone-lined mill race and a fulling mill. (2)
A Dissolution survey and valuation records a fulling mill within or close to the precinct, worth £1 6s 8d (3a). Authority 1's suggestion that this mill was sited at Low Pasture House is supported by an estate map of c 1730 (3b) which records the fieldname 'Walk Mill Close' immediately to the west. According to John Rushton (3c), either this mill or SE 57 NW 129 was working as a rag-paper mill in the 17th and 18th centuries, but the reference is probably in error for a paper mill that is known to have operated at Old Byland in 1619. (3) |