Irby Mill cottage was built just opposite where the second mill used to stand sometime during the early 19th century. Over the years the cottage was extended and refurbished many times. The cottage (a two-storey building) had a single-storey extension on the south end and a small single-storey structure on the north end. A postcard written in 1907 shows that it was then open for the sale of teas, etc. The cottage was bought in 1919 by George and Bertha Lumsden who opened it as "The Old Mill Café" in 1924.
Sometime after 1924 the following changes were made. The old single-storey extensions were removed and a new single-storey extension was built onto the south end of the building. This extension was aligned east-west and formed a "T" shaped end to the building. The extension was used as a dance hall and the proprietor's daughter gave dancing lessons. The garden wall was removed and the post box relocated to the wall of the dance hall extension. The chimney stack in the centre of the roof was replaced with a model of a windmill as a reminder of the original mill.
During the 1930s, diamond shaped windows were added to the north wall on the upper floor. In 1938 Higsons brewery bought the building from the Lumsdens. Higsons rented out the building intermittently and it remained as a café until the mid 1960s and the place is still known to many local people as "Lumsden's Cafe". The brewery made repeated development applications (starting in 1938) to the authorities. Planning rejections and various drawbacks prevailed until a rejection was successfully appealed in 1979. The major structural changes were the demolition of the dance hall extension and its replacement with a two-storey extension that followed the alignment of the original building and was built of matching sandstone blocks.
Prior to, and during, the building work, archaeological investigations were made. It was found that the north end of the building had once been a separate dwelling with its own front door onto Mill Lane. The garden wall was rebuilt and the original post box, with its Edward VII motif, was once
again installed into that wall. The business opened as Irby Mill public house in September 1980. The fireplace at the north end of the building is, confusingly, inscribed 1780-1980. This displays the anniversary of Higsons brewery, not the anniversary of the building. A small stained-glass window in the north wall looks historic, but actually displays the Higsons logo.
The pub sign hanging near the front door displays a fan-tail windmill, not the tail-beam type which had actually been on this site. In 1994, planning permission was granted for an extension to the west face at the southern part of the building. This was built for storage purposes. Shortly
afterwards, the porch at the Mill Lane entrance was added. This leaves us with what we see today... The Irby Mill public House.
This is a drive by but please take care with parking and especially with young children and dogs as the road can be very busy.