Near Draycot Mill

Draycot Mill was located approximately 150 metres north of the Draycot crossroads, where the B4122 drops down into the dip and a watercourse runs under the highway. There are no traces of the original buildings, although the mill race can still be found in the middle of the trees, west of the road; but note that there is nothing visible from the Public Rights of Way (PRoW).

Domesday Book refers to a mill at Draycot in 1086, and it was probably on the same location. Records throughout the following centuries refer to other mills on the estate, but this was probably the main one. A 1773 county map shows it as 'Draycot Mill' with a second, unnamed, mill at the eastern end of the lake in Draycot Park. The second mill was possibly short-lived as it does not appear on any other maps. Other records indicate that Draycot Mill was only usable in the winter months, when water levels were high and the current was strong.

Draycot Mill eventually stopped working in the second half of the 1800s and was eventually demolished. Other mills, on the main River Avon, were still in operation in the 1900s: Seagry Mill, Christian Malford Mill, Avon Mill and Kellaways Mill.

The 1840 map showing Draycot Mill on the west of the Stanton Road also shows the location of the original village of Lower Draycot on the south side of the lake in Draycot Park. The houses, including the old rectory for St James' Church, were cleared in the late 1800s to create a more open parkland, and the villagers were moved to new houses in Draycot Cerne.

The 1885 map shows that the Mill had already disappeared, and so had Lower Draycot. This contrasting image shows the new parkland, the new rectory on the south side of the main road, and the new Mortuary Chapel.