Lord’s Mill

The Grade II listed Lord’s Mill on the corner of Waterside and Moor Road was in a poor state by the 1970s. It was on the Chesham Society’s radar and it had a survey carried out in 1973, but the building was put up for sale the following year and the Society was discouraged from further involvement.

It was sold again in 1979 to Keith Nimz who carried out repairs but the Mill continued to deteriorate and, by the 1980s, parts of it had become dangerous. In April 1986 there was a meeting of all the interested parties but there ensued much prevarication on the part of the owner and the District Council, which could have used its listed buildings powers. When work finally got going at the end of the decade, the state of the structure was found to be far worse than expected and restoration was abandoned.

However the Society has continued to keep an eye on this historic site and, earlier this year, Roger Smith, the Chesham Society’s planning expert, reported that a new application for six mixed residences on the Lord’s Mill site had been passed by the Town Council. Plans for the site are attractive and sympathetic, and the developer intends to utilise the original buildings and may restore the waterwheel in a suitable position.