Property Spotlight: A Grade II listed former water mill just outside Redbourn

Published: 9:44 AM October 22, 2018 Updated: 3:05 PM November 1, 2020

Dolittle Mill House, St Albans Road, Redbourn. Picture: Strutt & Parker - Credit: Archant

This unique Grade II listed country cottage is set just outside the sought-after village of Redbourn.

The mill has a rich history. Picture: Strutt & Parker - Credit: Archant

Dolittle Mill House is a four-bed property with cinema room, kitchen/breakfast room, three reception rooms, plus family bathroom, shower room and cloakroom.

It is accessed via wooden gates, which lead onto a paved driveway, providing parking space for several vehicles.

There are pretty gardens to the front, while to the rear there is a delightful south-facing garden, with a paved terrace area.

To the back of the garden, steps lead to a gate, beyond which lies a track, offering rear access to the property via Beaumont Hall Lane and additional parking for several cars.

The kitchen/breakfast room is packed with character. Picture: Strutt & Parker - Credit: Archant

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The River Ver, prior to the extraction of water, was quite a considerable river and was a major contributor to the local industries.

The Domesday Book recorded two water mills in the parish although the sites of these are presumably those outside the present conservation area boundary, at Dolittle Mill and Redbournbury Mill.

There is evidence that at some time these mills were later used for paper making. In the late 1850s a silk mill was constructed on South Common powered by steam.

The site was subsequently acquired by Brooke Bond in 1938 and the mill buildings demolished although the mill house survives behind the Cricketers pub. It has now been converted to the village museum.