Layer Mill no wheel house conversion <1>

Layer Mill dates from the later C18 and was worked by John Royce in 1848 and thereafter by William Royce in 1863. It later served the mushroom farm, in which it still remains, grinding a product used for mushroom cultivation. It continued in this vein until c.1960 when the external waterwheel and all the machinery were removed and it was converted into a house. Externally the mill retains an iron belt wheel on the front where, no doubt, a steam portable engine lent a hand when the water was low (Benham, 1976).

Layer Mill is located at a short distance to the east and beyond the built up extent of Layer-de-la-Haye and sits abreast the Roman River, which gently meanders on an easterly path towards the Colne Estuary. The river widens out immediately upstream to form a mill pond which channelled water onto an external breast or low breast shot waterwheel formerly situated within a brick built wheel pit built up against the northern end of the mill. A by-pass channel, regulated by a sluice at its junction with the mill pond, skirts around the mill to the north before rejoining the river c.65m downstream. Although the waterwheel no longer remains the guillotine sluice mechanism that finely controlled the flow to the wheel, remains in use to this day.
Layer appears to be a typical example of a C18 timber framed country watermill. It is a 3 storey weatherboarded mill with a Mansard Roof and gables facing north and south. An in-line two storey brick mill house extends to the south while an open-side pitched roofed shelter covering the wheel pit, is situated between the northern end wall and a later mono-pitched weatherboarded outbuilding. An C18 early C19 ?stable range/outbuilding lies at a short distance to the north, between the river and by-pass while further to the north and east lie a regiment of prefabricated/lightweight sheds used for the cultivation of mushrooms. The watermill dominates the surrounding buildings and is typically a white washed weatherboarded mill with a central lucam projecting from above the eaves line to the front. The lucam is weatherboarded with a gabled, tiled roof. It is cantilevered from an internal catwalk or gantry, projects out above the upper purlin and is supported from below by straight braces rising up from the top plate. The roof was originally covered in plain tiles, there use clearly seen on the upper roof plains, but the lower roofs to front and rear have both been repaired and partially re-covered using slate. This change in roofing materials was probably carried out some time ago as the entire roof, tiles and slates have since been painted with a commercial waterproof paint, suggesting failure of the roof. The lucam is sited above a taking-in doorway, with a vertically battened door at first floor level It sits central to a pair of C19 and later windows, one multi-light casement the other a similarly styled sash. The windows throughout the building follow this treatment and are predominantly modern. According to Benham the mill retains an iron belt wheel, sited on the external wall adjacent to the wheel pit, used to supplement power to the stones using a steam portable engine, when the water was low. Alternatively the wheel, which lacks a recess for a belt and is arguably too large (in diameter) for such purpose, may have been used to open and close the shut to the waterwheel and not an external drive. The mill is now in residential use and although needing some remedial treatments to the exterior, particularly the roof, it remains in a fair condition. No internal access
The adjoining mill house has a plain tile gable ended roof, has modern windows and a number of C19 and later brick accretions. A pair of rendered 1½ storey brick built mill cottages lie at a short distance to the south of the mill.
Present Use: Residential within Mushroom Farm
Condition: Fair
Layer mill is typical of an C18 weatherboarded Essex mill built characteristically with a Mansard roof and the regionally distinct lucam. The loss of its internal technology, waterwheel and general renovations associated with reuse have impacted upon the historic and architectural significance of the mill, although it still retains group value with the outbuildings, mill house, cottages and watercourses that still occupy the site <2>.