[This section is under construction]

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Newbiggin Mill probably dates from the origin of the village in the 12th or 13th century. The earliest definite reference to it can be found in an Inquisition Post Mortem of the property of Robert de Tateshale in 1298, which included a mill, probably a corn mill, at Newbiggin worth 26s. 8d. He also owned a corn mill and a fulling mill at Thoralby, a third of a corn mill at Aysgarth and a third of a mill at Thornton Rust. It was usual for medieval corn mills to be owned by the lord of the manor, who enforced soke rights to oblige his tenants and others beholden to the manor to grind their grain at his mill. Newbiggin Mill was established on Mill Beck just above Mill Scar (see map below) in a climatic period known as the Medieval Warm Period, during which the growing of oats, rye and possibly even wheat would have taken place in Bishopdale because the climate was more favourable to arable farming than it is today.

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​Around 1350, the Medieval Warm Period began to give way to a colder and wetter period known to meteorologists as the Little Ice Age. This would have made it impossible to continue growing grain in marginal areas such as Newbiggin, so it is likely that Newbiggin Mill ceased grinding sometime in the late 14th or early 15th century along with several other manorial mills in the Yorkshire Dales. Newbiggin Mill, situated on Mill Beck, is probably the best preserved of these medieval mill sites.

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A field survey undertaken by Stephen Moorhouse identified the sites of the fall-trough or launder, which was a wooden trough leading to the mill pond, the mill building on its millrace or leat, the miller's house, a possible drying kiln and other buildings probably used for grain storage. The leat leading to this wooden launder extracted water from the opposite side of the beck to the site of the mill pond and mill building, so a launder would have been used to carry the water over the beck to the mill pond. This type of system was quite common in medieval mills because it provided some protection to the mill from flooding. When floods occurred, the miller could remove the wooden launder to keep the flood water away from the pond and mill building or, if he left it in place, the launder, which was easily replaced, would be washed away before any significant damage was done to the mill. An abandoned track, known as a hollow way, has been identified leading from the mill to East Farm at the eastern end of the village. This would have provided a gentler access than finding a way through the crag just below the mill.

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The photographs below are from an article by Stephen Moorhouse in "The Archaeology of Yorkshire, An assessment at the beginning of the 21st century", edited by T.G. Manby, Stephen Moorhouse and Patrick Ottaway.