Ifield Water Mill

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…

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.