Copyright walesonline
When guests turn up at Brendan’s house for a party or social gathering it’s not a swimming pool or home cinema that totally captivates them - it's the fact that he and wife Celia live in a Grade II* 435-year-old mill that still works and can impress with its inner workings. It’s not the type of home feature that many people in Wales can offer but Brendan is happy to ‘switch it on’ using a series of sluice gates that control the water flow from a weir from the River Alyn to the mill race (stream) that runs alongside this enchanting property. He says: “Invariably I’m asked to run the mill which is fine for half an hour so we can get everything going. We’ve ground corn into flour and I’ve made my own bread, so not only have I been a miller I’ve been a baker too!" READ MORE: Stunning £1.5m village home said to have been site of rock legend pool party YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE: 'I have risked absolutely everything to save the Barry Island landmark that I love' Brendan continues: “I run it on high days, holidays and sunny days so we run it reasonably frequently but certainly not all the time. We also constantly have a small amount of water running through the mill race so it doesn’t silt up and it’s just nice to see and hear running water and lots of wildlife it attracts. “The water from the mill race doesn’t go over the wheel it goes under the wheel - it’s called an undershot rather than an overshot which is the more traditional type where the water cascades down from the top. This is why the wheel is so big.” For more property stories sent to your inbox twice a week sign up to the property newsletter here . Brendan freely chats about running historic Rossett Mill like an expert but it wasn’t always the case. In the beginning of owning the mill, which is located in the popular village of Rossett which nestles into the landscape between Wrexham and Chester and dates back to 1588, it was a steep learning curve. Not only did the couple know nothing about running and maintaining a listed mill, they also had to dive in and navigate a two and a half year renovation and restoration which should see the mill last at least another 435 years. He says: “I knew nothing about a watermill but when the place was up for sale I came to see it with my wife and within not even five minutes I said I’ve got to buy this - it’s just fantastic’.” Brendan is in good company falling for this memorable property because during its centuries of existence the mill has enchanted many people, including famous artist Turner who painted the building from a sketch done when he visited the area in 1795 with the finished watercolour exhibited at the Royal Academy later that year. He says: “The mill was in a very bad state of repair so we couldn’t live in it - it was water tight and it was structurally sound but living here would have been a bit like camping” Brendan remembers, “Inside it was very dark and gloomy because it was locked up and the windows had been more or less boarded up because it wasn’t being lived in so from a security point of view. “It should have put us off but it was the amount of wood in the building that did it for us - it’s a bit like being in an old ship, if you like wooden beams this place is heaven, if you don’t like wooden beams, it’s a nightmare! We like it, we love it and I’m sure lots of other people will too.” The previous custodian of Wales’ oldest surviving undershot mill had worked on the building, saving the structure from total and eventual dereliction which was coming perilously close, but the inside of the mill needed a complete restoration. Brendan remembers: “The walls were all ok, the previous owner when he bought it in the 1970s it was derelict and it was touch and go whether it would be pulled down. He saved the building but he never actually lived in it and then we came along in 2013 and we developed it into a home.” The mill was listed by Cadw in 1952, amended in 1996, for being ‘an exceptionally fine example of a 16th century timber-framed undershot corn mill’, so the first step for the couple in restoring the building, affectionately known by local residents of Rossett and the surrounding area as ‘the mill with the crooked window’, was to secure planning for changes. The objective was to create a home comfortable for modern living including new plumbing, heating, electrics, bathrooms and kitchen whilst keeping the character and historic integrity of this truly unique building. It took a year to secure planning which included Cadw and the local conservation officer but Brendan says they didn’t ever see this multi-expert approach as a problem. Brendan explains: “Everyone wanted to come and have a look and check we weren’t ripping things out that we shouldn’t be which is fine because we didn’t have a problem with that because all we wanted to do was sympathetic alternations, we loved the place as it was, so that wasn’t a problem it just took a long time. "After that the builders were here for about 18 months doing all the changes so we didn’t move in for about two and a half years after buying it.” Brendan credits their meticulous builder and using experts in historical and listed buildings with the stunning renovation of the mill and that is one nugget of advice he thinks anyone taking on a project to save an old dying building should consider. He says that using a standard builder and opting for the cheapest quotes would have been faster and probably cheaper but not right for the building. The builder they used Brendan says was absolutely excellent, a real craftsman who took a great deal of pride in what he did - took care so took a bit longer than some people might expect but they preferred that - to be done once and done right. He says: “It’s not just another nice house, it is totally unique in that it’s not just an old mill, it’s a working old mill and it’s been here since 1588, it deserved proper care and attention. For more property, renov ation, a nd interior design stories join our Amazing Welsh Homes Facebook group here . “Renovating an old building it takes time and often with a lot of the work it’s hard for the builder to say how much it’s going to cost, you can start a project and it might take one week, might take two, they don’t know until they start it and that’s the nature of an older building." The couple discovered that you have to be prepared and happy with the scenario that you can’t work to a defined schedule or budget because you’re dealing with a very old building. Luckily the mill did not present them with any major issues during the renovation project, only a few challenges with sourcing extra materials. Brendan says: “When we needed timbers for the mill you can’t just go down to the local timber yard and order them we had to get a specialist who deals in timbers like that and he found them in France from a lovely old barn which in this country would have been turned into a five-bedroom executive home costing millions but in France they just wanted to demolish it and pop up a new steel shed in its place! “So we bought half the barn and shipped over the fantastic very old oak beams - some four or five metres long - stuff you can’t source in this country any more, it doesn’t exist.” As well as the proliferation of beams and the unique history of the site combined with the impressive working mill mechanism, the couple were enthralled by the large spaces inside the property compared to so many buildings dating back to the 15th centre. Brendan says: “The ceilings are quite tall so you don’t bang your head and the rooms are quite big because it was never built as a home it was built as a working water mill and these rooms were used for storage of grain, flour and space mill wheels and things like that so if you’re going back to the 16th century they are very big for that period of time. Even nowadays the rooms are large and it suits our lifestyle.” He finds it hard to choose his favourite room but when pushed he settles on the lounge where he gets cosy on a plush and squishy sofa in front of the log burner nestled into the enormous inglenook fireplace. “There are two living rooms but the main living room is a gorgeous and lovely place to relax, especially at night with the log fire going." Brendan says, "It’s a very social house, it’s great for entertaining, there’s an enormous dining room where we can seat 20 people and there’s double doors into the living room so the flow works very well if you’re entertaining so it’s a great Christmas house too and for dinner parties and people like to come to the building because it’s unusual.” In total, the home has four bedrooms, four bathrooms, four reception rooms including the incredibly charming dining room in the ground floor of the mill wing of the building. There’s a sleek white kitchen, utility room and two cloakrooms on the ground floor and as well as the bedrooms the mill wing including its working machinery continues on this level and up onto a second floor. Outside within the nine acres of land that includes the mill race and rear paddock there are two self-contained dwellings that the family have used as multi-generational living accommodation but can also be used as rentals with the correct planning in place. One regret for Brendan are regarding the ample grounds that surround the ancient building and the plans he had that will never materialise. He says: “I always had dreams of having horses but the kids grew up and we missed that one and then I wanted to create a cricket pitch in the middle and it’s a perfect oval shape for that, it would make a fantastic cricket crease. There’s heaps of opportunities for someone to do something with the land.” It is with great sadness that the couple leave the mill for a new life and a new home chapter. Brendan says: “It’s a reluctant sale, we would love to stay here. It’s been a difficult decision but our family has grown up and have their own homes so it’s time to downsize and move on. We’ll just be a little 15 year blip in the history of the building.” The couple think the mill needs to be full again, it needs to be lived in and continue to be loved, and Brendan knows that the next buyer will fall for the mill just as quickly as he did, although for the next owner there is no restoration work to do, the couple have done that challenging part of the mill’s recent history. Brendan says: “If you saw it and said ‘it’s nice but it doesn’t have this or that’ it’s probably not for you but I would say that if you wait for another watermill to come on the market, especially working, then you’re going to be waiting for another 25 years or even longer, these things just don’t come on the market that often. If you want it, you had better grab it because it is unique, there isn’t another one like it.” Rossett Mill is on the market for £1.5m with Currans Unique Homes, Chester, call 01244 313900 to find out more.
