Rivelin Mill

Rivelin Corn Mill, Rivelin Valley, Sheffield, S6 5SJ

Former water-powered corn mill/water mgmt system

Rivelin Corn Mill stood on the site of the current Rails Road car park. It was one of the earliest in the valley to be built, in around 1600, and was always used for the grinding of corn. It ran two waterwheels, each driving three pairs of millstones.  Besides the corn mill, there were other buildings, including cottages and outbuildings. It remained working until the 1920s and was demolished in the 1950s. The site of the buildings was infilled and is now a small car park.

The water management system extends to the east and south-west of the site of the former mill buildings. The mill dam is fed through the head goit from a weir about 300 m upstream (on the south side of the A57 Manchester Road); the head goit was bridged by the ‘Glossop Turnpike’ in 1824. Following the collapse of the mill dam wall in 2001, the long, narrow mill dam was reconfigured to leave two ponds separated by a meadow (now with some trees). A pond-dipping platform and outdoor classroom were installed to facilitate educational visits.

The site of the Rivelin Corn Mill is located in the triangle between Rails Road, Manchester Road and the Rivelin Valley Road. It is owned by Sheffield City Council and there is open access. A public footpath (the Rivelin nature and heritage trail) passes the site and runs along the dam wall. The trail can be accessed from various points along Rivelin Valley Road and surrounding footpaths.

A marker post installed at the site by Rivelin Valley Conservation Group gives a brief history and links to a website where further information and pictures can be found.

Rivelin Corn Mill is one of the 20 water-powered mills built in the Rivelin Valley (search for ‘Rivelin Waterpower Sites’ on this website for more details). This sequence of Rivelin mills and mill dams forms an essential part of Sheffield’s heritage. They also have a broader national and even international significance in relation to the history of the Industrial Revolution in Sheffield.

Further information and pictures of Rivelin Corn Mill and other sites in the Rivelin valley can be found at https://rivelinvalley.org.uk/rivelin-trails-2/. See also the books ‘Walking the Rivelin’, by Sue Shaw and Keith Kendall (6^th edition, 2019, Rivelin Valley Conservation Group) and ‘Water Power on the Sheffield Rivers’, by C. Ball, D. Crossley, N. Flavell (Editors), (2nd Edition (2006), South Yorkshire Industrial Society).