The Domesday Book records that at Otrit [Dotton] there is a 'mill which pays 5s' and that the mill was there prior to 1066. Learned publications on ancient watermills suggest that this was probably a 'horizontal mill', ie. the mill wheel was much like a paddle in the river. The site of this mill is unknown as the course of the River Otter has meandered much over the centuries. 

The 1242 'gift' of the Dotton lands to Dunkeswell Abbey, by Bishop William Brewer of Exeter, did not indicate the presence of a mill. In general the Cistercian Statutes forbade the possession of mills that might be used as a source of revenue but this was difficult to administer when the 'gift' already included such and where the site was distant from the parent monastery. 

The first real evidence of a permanent mill comes in the 1532 Lease of the Dotton Manor from Dunkeswell Abbey to William Stoforde, which includes a 'pond, watercourse and mill’. The mention of a watercourse indicates a 'mill-leat' to deliver water to a vertical water-wheel. Later in July 1543 the Sale of Dotton Manor to Richard and John Duke included 'a watermill' , and the subsequent April 1584 Indenture of the Manor and Free Chapel of Dotton to Gregory Sprente makes mention of 'the water myll'. None of these documents provide any further useful information as to the state of the mill or its usage, but, because of its closeness to the main manorial mill at Otterton, it was probably only used as a gristmill and was in poor repair. 

The January 1779 Sale of the Duke Estates does not specifically mention the mill or watercourse at Dotton but the February 1792 Lease between the Rolle Estate and John Lightfoot required him 'to build a dwelling house and Sett of Mills (ie. mill stones) at Dotton Mill'. This seems to indicate that the existing building had deteriorated to such an extent that it was unusable. John Lightfoot continued as the Miller at Dotton until his death in 1826. Joel Dyer then took up the Lease, but by 1841 it was held by Joel Roger Carter [his son-in-law] and the Carter family maintained a successful milling business serving the local farming community until 1916. Richard Widdecombe Lethbridge took over the mill in 1919, and over the years until his death in 1936 he 'provided a useful business which was of advantage to many tenants of the estate’. The tenancy was then taken over by Lionel Creed but the business declined considerably during the War Years and the family finally quit in 1942. From then until 1967 the mill was not used and fell into decay such that by December 1968 it was demolished due to its unsafe condition. All above ground evidence of the mill was erased and the mill-leat was filled in. 

In July 2006 a televised Time Team dig uncovered the 'footprint' of the mill, dug into the mill-wheel pit and discerned the line of the mill-leat. Their evidence supported the paperwork evidence briefly given above. 

Abstracted by Harry Lane, 2009 from: 

 'The Story of Dotton, a Hamlet lost in the Passage of Time' compiled and printed by ©Harry Lane, 2004.

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