A Mill is recorded in the Doomsday Book of 1086 on the site of the The Old Mill. In the 14th Century it had begun to be known as Slaughter Mill and by the 18th Century had become independent of the manorial estate.
In its later years The Old Mill, situated on the River Eye came into the ownership of the Wilkins family whose cousins ran John Wilkins & Sons at the nearby mill in Bourton-on-the-Water, now the Cotswold Motor Museum.
From the First World War up to 1958, the last year of flour production, the business at the Old Mill, Joseph T. Wilkins & Sons, was run by grandson Joseph Morris Wilkins, known to his friends as Morris. Joseph Wilkins was the last of four generations to mill at Lower Slaughter, as sadly on the 10th May 1958 he suffered a heart attack whilst on a day out to Lyme Regis in Dorset Morris had two daughters, Pauline and Susan but no sons, so regrettably no-one in the family was able to continue the business.
In 1959 Alfred and Edith Collet bought the bakery business at The Mill turning part of the Mill House into a local Post Office and Shop. Followed by their two sons Toby and Stephen, together with daughter Linda, Collett’s Bakery grew steadily. In1992 they moved to larger premises at Manor Farm in Upper Slaughter, and sadly went out of business.
The Old Mill re-opened its doors to the public for the first time on National Mill Days, Sunday 14th May 1995. By removing the floorboards of the milling room you are able to see the two sets of stones which were used for both grist milling and flour milling. When you visit make sure to look up and study the array of machinery which used to make the Old Mill alive with the sound of milling!