Cornmill owners celebrating 500 years of milling

David and Kathy Jones are celebrating the 500th anniversary of Hele Cornmill in north Devon

A family who moved from London to north Devon to take on a cornmill 15 years ago are celebrating its 500th anniversary.

Owners David and Kathy Jones said Hele Cornmill, just outside of Ilfracombe, was commissioned in 1525 and was one of the oldest mills still standing in the country.

Mr Jones said they have had to do a number of major repairs to keep the building weather tight. He said they milled traditional heritage wheat from Dorset into flour, which is used in their on-site tearoom.

"The mill is always in a constant state of slight disrepair as its 500 years old," he said.

Mr Jones said he had been surprised how accurate simple technology was

"We had to replace the water wheel buckets back in 2018 so we could continue milling," he said.

The Hele Cornmill is open to the public on certain days between April and October.

"My wife makes the cakes from our flour. She's almost up to 100,000 scones now in the 15 years we have been going," Mr Jones said.

"It is a full-on enterprise when we are open."

He said: "It's surprising how accurate simple technology was."

Mr Jones said water falls above the wheel to turn it, then through a number of gears the stones turn. Grain is "gently" poured from above to produce the flour, which hits the side and falls into a sack.

When they are not milling or running the tearoom, he said they were trying to piece together its history including previous owners, millers and anyone associated with it.

Mr Jones said: "We've had some striking successes. We are back to 1654 I believe so we are about 130 years short of the 1525 start."