Leri Mills, Talybont

A water-powered woollen mill in the historic county of Cardiganshire, Wales.

See related images and documents.
See images only.

Leri or Lerry Mills was one of the most extensive woollen flannel mill sites in mid-Wales. It was founded in 1809, on a site which is reputed to have been a smeltery and stamp mill established in the 1640s by Thomas Bushell for processing silver and lead ores. Later there is thought to have been a corn mill on the site. The woollen mills closed in the early 1980s.

There are four major buildings on the site, all separately Grade II Listed. The North-east range is thought to have been constructed in 1809, of rubblestone with a graded, hipped slate roof which has in more recent times been repaired with metal sheets. The windows have slate sills and wooden frames with iron glazing bars. At some later date the building was extended south-eastwards, concealing the south hip of the original roof. A leat now passes under this extension, turning to drive a composite breastshot waterwheel at the north end of the west wall. The building had spinning mules on the upper floor, now removed, and contains a carding engine.

The Upper Building presents a single storey to the south and two storeys on its north side, and may contain elements of a late seventeenth century building. It is built of whitewashed rubblestone with a slate roof, and projections at the north-west corner may relate to a waterwheel site. To the north of this is the Riverside Building, a two-storey mid-nineteenth century building with rubblestone walls, windows with slate sills and brick heads, and a slate roof. At the north-west corner there is a section of timber framing in the upper storey. At the West end is a loft door accessed by a flight of stone steps, and a leat passes under the north-west corner.

At the west end of the site is a dyeing shed, reputedly a mid-nineteenth century conversion from a seventeenth or eighteenth century building. The conversion involved shortening the west end. The interior contains remains of dye tubs.

Full details

Location

References

• Coflein, National Monuments Record of Wales
• Historic Wales Cadw Listed Buildings - Dyeing Shed
• Historic Wales Cadw Listed Buildings - NE Range
• Historic Wales Cadw Listed Buildings - Riverside Building
• Historic Wales Cadw Listed Buildings - Upper Building
• Ordnance Survey six-inch map, Cardiganshire III.NE (1906)

Missing information? Click here to tell us about this mill.