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A Watching Brief at Ludford Mill, Ludford, Ludlow, Shropshire, 2012 by H R Hannaford Archaeology Service A WATCHING BRIEF AT LUDFORD MILL, LUDFORD, LUDLOW, SHROPSHIRE 2012 by H R HANNAFORD MIFA A Report for Dean & Thomas Ltd. Archaeology Service Archaeology Service Report Number 321 Historic Environment Team, Business Growth & Prosperity, © Shropshire Council Shirehall, Abbey Foregate, Shrewsbury, SY2 6ND July 2012 Tel: (01743) 252575 Fax: (01743) 252505 Email: [email protected] A Watching Brief at Ludford Mill, Ludford, Ludlow, Shropshire 2012 CONTENTS Page No SUMMARY 1 1 INTRODUCTION 2 2 ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL BACKGROUND 2 3 THE WATCHING BRIEF 3 4DISCUSSION 3 5 REFERENCES 3 ILLUSTRATIONS Figure 1: Location of the study area Photo 1: Ludford Mill, looking NE Photo 2: The foundation trench, looking north, showing the surface of the bedrock (scale bar 0.5m) SUMMARY In June 2012 the Archaeology Service, Shropshire Council carried out a watching brief at Ludford Mill, Ludford, Ludlow, Shropshire. The watching brief accompanied groundworks associated with a programme of repairs to the mill following fire damage. The present mill dates to the 17th century, but there has been a mill on the site since the medieval period. It was therefore considered possible that archaeological remains might be encountered during the groundworks. However, no significant archaeological features or deposits were seen during the watching brief. Archaeology Service, Shropshire Council 1 Report No. 321 July 2012 A Watching Brief at Ludford Mill, Ludford, Ludlow, Shropshire 2012 1 INTRODUCTION 1.1 Ludford is a suburb of Ludlow, Shropshire, situated on the south bank of the River Teme. In June 2012 groundworks were carried out as part of repairs to Ludford Mill, Ludford (NGR: SO 5139 7418). Ludford Mill and weir (Figure 1) are a Grade II listed building (National LB Ref: 1202857). The present building dates largely from the late 17th century but is thought to have earlier medieval origins. 1.2 Ludford Mill (Shropshire Historic Environment Record [HER] No. 10942) was built in the early 17th century to manufacture paper. The mill building is constructed from stone rubble, timber frame and brick under a plain tile roof. The interior retains an early 19th century wheel and shaft, and some sluice controls. The mill sits on the site of an earlier medieval mill, which shared a weir with Old Street Mill. 1.3 Following a fire in March 2011, a programme of repairs to fire and smoke damage was put in place. These repairs were to include the insertion of a new foundation beam in the cellar floor of the mill building. 1.4 It was considered possible therefore that archaeological remains relating to the development of the mill might be impacted on by the groundworks within the study area. Because of the potential significance of the archaeological resource it was a condition of the Listed Building Consent for the work that the groundworks associated with the insertion of the new foundation beam be accompanied by the implementation of a programme of archaeological work. 1.5 The programme of archaeological work was to comprise a watching brief on these groundworks. The aim of the programme of archaeological work was to allow for the preservation by record of any archaeological remains that were encountered during the works. 1.6 The Archaeology Service, Shropshire Council, was commissioned to carry out the archaeological watching brief in accordance with a written scheme of investigation (WSI) approved by the Historic Environment Team, Shropshire Council. 2 ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL BACKGROUND The settlement at Ludford dates back to the Saxon period and is mentioned in the Domesday Survey of 1086 (Thorn & Thorn, 1986, EH1). A mill is documented at Ludford in the 14th century (HER 06182) and there were two fulling mills here in 1349 and 1350. The mill shared a weir with a mill at the end of Old Street on the Ludlow side of the river, documented in 1331 (HER 06181), and this has led to the suggestion that the Ludford Mill may be of a similar date (Dalwood, 1996, p10). The mill was repaired in 1505. The mills were demolished in the early 17th century, and replaced by the present structure (HER files for PRN 06182). How much of the earlier mills and their substructures were incorporated into the present structure is unknown. The present Ludford Mill (HER 10942) was built before 1718 as a paper mill. It was converted to use as a corn mill in c. 1868. The mill was damaged by fire in 2011, giving rise to the current repair work. Archaeology Service, Shropshire Council 2 Report No. 321 July 2012 A Watching Brief at Ludford Mill, Ludford, Ludlow, Shropshire 2012 3 THE WATCHING BRIEF 3.1 A trench for the new concrete foundation was excavated by hand in the cellar floor adjacent to the south side of the pit wheel pit. The flagstones of the existing floor were removed to expose an area 1.5m long by 1m wide. The flagstones were c. 0.1m thick and were laid on a mixed deposit of grey silt with stone and brick fragments with flecks of lime mortar, between 0.1 and 0.25m thick. A quantity of 19th century pottery and glass was noted but not kept. This deposit lay directly on the surface of the greenish grey siltstone bedrock, which sloped down from the south to the north. The excavation stopped when the bedrock was reached. 4 DISCUSSION 4.1 No significant archaeological features or deposits were seen during the watching brief on the excavation of the new foundation trench. The existing flagstone floor appeared to have been laid probably in the late 19th or even early 20th century, and its bedding lay directly on the natural bedrock. 5 REFERENCES Dalwood, H, et al, 1996: Archaeological Assessment of Ludlow, Shropshire, Hereford and Worcester County Council Archaeology Service Report No. 327 HER files for PRNs 06181, 06182, 06266, & 10942 Lloyd, D and Klein, P, 1984: Ludlow: A Historic Town in Words and Pictures Thorn, F and Thorn, C (eds), 1986: Domesday Book, Shropshire, Phillimore, Chichester ABBREVIATIONS HER Historic Environment Record, Shropshire Council OS Ordnance Survey SA Shropshire Archives, Castle Gates, Shrewsbury TSAS Transactions of the Shropshire Archaeological Society TSAHS Transactions of the Shropshire Archaeological and Historical Society Archaeology Service, Shropshire Council 3 Report No. 321 July 2012 A Watching Brief at Ludford Mill, Ludford, Ludlow, Shropshire 2012 Photo 1: Ludford Mill, looking NE Photo 2: The foundation trench, looking north, showing the surface of the bedrock (scale bar 0.5m) LUDFORD MILL, LUDFORD, LUDLOW 2012.

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