Shalford Mill

The Domesday Book records a mill being present on the site in 1086 - one of the five mills recorded as part of the great manor of Bramley. In the 15th century, the mill was owned by John atte Lee, and in the 16th by Sir Edmund Walsingham; in 1599 it was sold to George Austen. The present timber-framed building, built around 1750 by John Mildred of Guildford, was unusual in that it originally housed two separate mills, each with its own waterwheel and machinery. The mill was operated for most of the 18th century by the Mildred family, first by John, then by his sons, Thomas and John, and then by his grandson, Daniel. In 1794 it was sold to Robert Austen and remained in his family, later the…

The mill was constructed to a very high standard, presumably as a demonstration of John Mildred's status. The timber-framed building has a clay tile roof and the walls are tile-hung to the level of the brick base. Diamond pattern leaded lights echo the tiling. Uniquely in Surrey, it has a lucam or projection of the upper story over the roadway to allow wagons to be loaded and unloaded easily.