Preston Bagot Mill

1 There was a mill at Preston Bagot in 1086 valued at 16s. In c1200 Simon Bagot gave two mills (see also PRN 1604), with “the multure of his households and his men of Preston, with right of way, and a strip of land seven feet wide along one bank of the stream for repairing the mill pond” to the Abbey of Reading. In 1291 the Abbey valued these mills at 10s. It is unclear whether this mill or PRN 1604 was extant in 1086. The Throckmorton family owned the mills until the beginning of the 17th century when the ownership was divided. The mill was still working in 1927 but eventually the buildings were converted for use as a house and restaurant. The mill was greatly altered by this conversion, the roof of the cottage was raised to the level of the mill roof, and many windows were inserted. There was an external overshot waterwheel on the road side of the building. The mill leat which fed the wheel can be traced back upstream to the site of another mill (PRN 1604).
2 The mill house probably on the site of the lower mill is still standing, just north of the bridge. It has recently been converted into cottages by the lord of the manor.
3 The mill house is no longer extant. The present “Mill Cottage” stands on the site. Two millstones were seen in the garden. The waterwheel has not survived. The mill race to the south of the cottage has been partially filled in, while it survives in the cottage gardens to the north.