Express & Echo (City & East Devon Edition)
Destination shop and café could be yours for £900k
A POPULAR attraction is up for sale – with a price tag of £895,000.
Bickleigh Mill was built in the late 18th century and now has three floors of retail space and a café.
The business in Bickleigh, near Tiverton, is being marketed through Bettesworths, which describes it as “one of Devon’s largest and most exciting rural shopping, eating and recreational destinations”.
Prospective buyers are told the property also comes with an owner’s apartment on the top floor and is set in seven acres, including a main and overflow car park, woodland, paddocks and ponds.
The mill was milling corn until the 190s and marked its 50th anniversary of being a visitor attraction in 2023.
The mill currently opens seven days a week, only closing on Christmas Day and Boxing Day.
And last year Suzanne Sproat, who has owned the business with her husband Kim for 17 years, appeared to hint the time to pass it on to new owners may be coming, calling it a “wonderful thing to own but a beast to run”.
She said: “The mill is our life and it’s very exhausting. We can’t do it forever. I would like one of our three children to take it on but our two sons aren’t interested, being young.
“Bickleigh Mill is not a young and funky market. We have never tried to make it trendy because that’s not what it is.”
A brochure advertising the mill for sale said: “Bickleigh Mill is a very well established business, renowned as a destination shopping and eating experience, situated in the heart of Devon and all under one roof.
“The business appeals to wide range of people, from regulars and locals to holidaymakers, many of whom make a dedicated trip, enjoying a slightly unique experience with the many facets of the operation.”