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There is no record of Rooksmoor Mill before 1729, when it was a cloth mill owned by Thomas Small of Nailsworth, although there has probably been a mill here for much longer than this. It remained a cloth mill until 1863, when it was occupied by John Grist, flock and shoddy manufacturer. This firm remained at the mill until 1935, when a fire destroyed many of the buildings. The business then changed hands, but continued in the same trade as the Stroud Flock Co. until 1963. At that date, Rooksmoor Mills Ltd. took over the premises, manufacturing furniture and supplying carpeting.
Rooksmoor House, the millowner's house, dates from four building periods. Three of these are evident in the four gables facing Rooksmoor Hill: the mid 16th, early 17th and early 18th centuries. There is also a late 17th century projecting wing with cross-windows, which may relate to a reset date stone of 1668.
A small group of houses on the other side of the road and up Rooksmoor Hill, no doubt once supplied workers for the mill. A group of nonconformists registered a meeting place at Rooksmoor in 1822.
The Old Fleece Inn is mid 18th century, but was restored in the Tudor style and opened as an inn before 1870. It is 'Old' in relation to the Fleece Inn at Lightpill, but both inns take their name from the original Fleece Inn which closed in 1853 and is now Hillgrove House.
Grigshot House, also mid 18th century, is a tall gabled building with five bays and three storeys.
From January 2016, this website is managed by Stroud Local
History Society
Revised 2018 EMW
