page_title: Cullompton
section_title: Mills powered by the town leat
hierarchical_section_title: Cullompton / History / Economic history / Mills powered by the town leat
caption_attribution_description: English: Lower Mill ceased working in 1968. The building is now in residential use but the sluices (made by Stenner and Gunn of the Lowman Ironworks, Tiverton) can still be seen.
context_page_description: Cullompton is a town and civil parish in the district of Mid Devon and the county of Devon, England. It is 13 miles north-east of Exeter and lies on the River Culm. In 2011 the parish as a whole had a population of 8,499 while the built-up area of the town had a population of 7,439
  The earliest evidence of occupation is from the Roman period – there was a fort on the hill above the town and occupation in the current town centre. Columtune was mentioned in Alfred the Great's will which left it to his youngest son Aethelweard.
  In the past the town's economy had a large component of wool and cloth manufacture, then later leather working and paper manufacture.
  A large proportion of town's inhabitants are commuters but there is some local manufacturing, including flour and paper mills. It has a monthly farmers' market held on the second Saturday of every month which is the oldest event of its kind in the South West. It is home to two grade I listed buildings: the fifteenth-century St Andrew's parish church and the seventeenth-century house known as The Walronds.
context_section_description: A leat runs to the east of the town's main street but it is uncertain when it was first constructed. By the early seventeenth century, the southern end of the leat and one mill are shown on a map. There were three main mills: Higher Mill, Lower Mill and Middle Mill. Higher Mill appears to have always been a corn mill and it continued to produce animal feed until 1974. It has since been converted to housing but a water turbine remains. Middle Mill was used as a woollen mill in the nineteenth century and was also associated with Bilbie's bell foundry (see below). Around 1900, the mill was steam powered and had a boiler delivered. It is labelled as an axle works on the 1904 Second Edition Ordnance Survey map. The only remains of Middle Mill are some walls and a chimney base. Lower Mill ceased working in 1968. The building is now in residential use but the sluices (made by Stenner and Gunn of the Lowman Ironworks, Tiverton) can still be seen, as can the water wheel and gearing.
caption: Lower Mill as it is today
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