84104

 

II  

Designated  

28/02/2005  

28/02/2005  

Argoed Mill Gallery  

 

Powys  

Nantmel  

 

Doldowlod  

299544  

262881  

NE  

Set back on the NE side of the A470 at Argoed, approximately 5.7km SSE of Rhayader.  

 

 

A corn mill is shown here on the 1840 Tithe map but the present building, with contemporary mill cottage and shop, was built in 1878 (date on roof trusses) and is shown on the 1889 Ordnance Survey. Corn was ground here until the 1930s, after which it was converted to produce hydro-electric power for nearby Doldowlod House until the National Grid superseded it in the late 1940s. It subsequently became a community centre and is now an art gallery.  

 

Mill machinery has been removed and floors mostly replaced, but the heavy corbelled beams supporting the original floors have survived. The loft retains a pulley block and queen-post trusses, some of which are inscribed 'SGT/JD 1878'.  

Listed for its special interest as a well preserved corn mill building, a type once common in rural Wales, forming a strong visual group of definite C19 character with the adjacent cottage and post office, and for its contribution to the overall historic character of Argoed hamlet.  

Argoed Mill Gallery, Mill Cottage and Old Post Office An asymmetrical group with the mill at the N end, Mill Cottage in the centre and Old Post Office at the S end. The 2½-storey mill is built of rubble stone with tooled dressings, and slate roof. Arched openings have prominent keystones. The central entrance is a replacement door under a stone lintel. A replacement segmental-headed window is to its L, and a wide arch to a through passage is on the R side. In the upper storey are central boarded doors, incorporating glazed panels, and 3-light windows to the R and L. In the R gable end, above the Mill Cottage roof, is a blocked loft opening. In the L gable end is the wheel chamber, with added roof and doorway to the front, dating from its conversion to the generation of electricity. In the rear elevation, the wide passage archway is to the L, to the R of which are 2 blocked doorways. A 3-light segmental-headed window is to the L in the upper storey. On the R side is a lean-to, which has an opening with a segmental tooled lintel and corrugated iron roof, against a stone wall that supported the head race. Next to it, also built against the head race wall, is a corner brick fireplace of an additional range now taken down. The head race wall has a round arch with freestone voussoirs and keystone inscribed 1848. Mill Cottage is set back from the mill, is a 2-storey, 2-window cottage of rubble stone with tooled dressings, slate roof and brick stack in the rear slope. Openings have segmental heads with keystones. The central boarded door has a glazed panel, and is beneath a 2-pane overlight. To the R and L are 3-light windows, shorter to the R. The upper storey has 2-light small-pane windows. The rear has added lean-tos to the R and L. In the upper storey is a 2-light small-pane casement window to the L and similar but single-light windows centre and R. The R gable end, behind the mill, is brick. The Old Post Office is set at right angles to the Mill Cottage and is wider. It is a 2-storey 3-window house of rubble stone with tooled flat arches with keystones, larger tooled quoins, slate roof on projecting eaves, stone stack to the R and roughcast stack to the L. The symmetrical S-facing front has a central entrance with boarded door incorporating a glazed panel, flanked by 2-light casement windows. Beneath the L-hand window is a George V letter box. The upper storey has 2-light replacement windows in original openings. The L gable end is slate-hung and has two 2-light small-pane casements under segmental heads in the upper storey. The R gable end has a small window lower L, a 2-light upper-storey casement window and added lean-to on the R.