Granary and stable range, Melin Drylliau

Cadw's description

Location

Set back from the S side of a trackway leading SE off the country road between Llanfaethlu and Rhydwyn, on the approach to Church Bay or Porth Swtan; c800m S of the Church of St Rhyddlad. The granary/stable lies directly NW of the windmill tower.

History

Early-mid C19 granary and stable range serving the adjacent windmill. Part of the building may also have functioned as a corn drying house, which is suggested by various alterations to the internal timberwork, and the presence of perforated kiln tiles which have been used as floor tiles in the stable. The entire upper floor was converted to an animal feed store after the mill ceased functioning in 1914; The stables may also have been re-fitted at this stage.

The mill buildings are not marked on the Tithe Map of the parish of Llanrhuddlad, 1843. However, the map is poorly annotated, not all the buildings are shown and none of the agricultural buildings are recorded. The land on which it stands is recorded as part of Caerau Mill, Caerau being a smallholding some 500m NW. Owned by John Williams, the tenant is recorded as William Rowlands, one of the renowned family of Anglesey millers, also farming over 20 acres(8.1 hectares) of land. He was succeeded by his son, Rowland William Rowlands, who operated the mill until it was gutted by fire in 1914. He then continued to run his business from the granary, trading in animal feed which he bought wholesale from Holyhead and retailed to farmers in the neighbourhood, therefore the emphasis changed from processing the local produce to retailing imported grain. The property was formerly part of the Tregarnedd Estate; now in private ownership.

Exterior

Two storey granary and stable range; rubble walls and roof of old small slates, partly grouted. All lintels are timber. Store to L (S) with boarded double door to S gable; former loading door to loft above, now with timber 2-pane window. Modern garage with corrugated asbestos roof attached to L (W side). Stable to R (N) with two boarded doors; that to the R wider and with ventilation slits to the upper part. Two windows to loft above, spaced at either end of the building. Blocked doorway to R (N) gable end at loft level, formerly with a stone staircase (information from owner).

Interior

The stable to the R has a complete set of timber stalls for 2 horses, complete with timber hay racks and mangers. The floor is made of perforated tiles used in the drying floors corn drying kilns, suggesting that the building may have been used for drying as well as storing grain.

Reason for designation

Listed as an early C19 vernacular granary and stable range, built as a drying house and store to serve the adjacent windmill, and later adapted as a retail outlet for imported animal foodstuff. The change in emphasis from farm-produced animal feed to imported feed was part of a wider change in agricultural practices in the early C20.