The Mill at Elstead Surrey.

The Mill at Elstead is a 16th Century building with a charming pub inside. Set on the River Wey near Elstead the mill is only one of two pubs I know with a watermill inside it, the other one being the Gomshall Mill. This is my honest review of the Mill at Elstead with all its good and bad points!

The Mill at Elstead Surrey

Key Info

📍 Click on the Map link for GoogleMaps directions

💲Good Lower Priced Traditional Pub Food

🕘Mon-Sat 12 – 9pm, Sun 12 – 8pm 🔗Website

As usual on these reviews, we were not paid to do it, we paid for our own food and drink out of our own pockets and the staff had no idea we were reviewing! Therefore, I feel our review is exactly as you would experience when visiting the pub.

Table of Contents

The Mill at Elstead Upstairs bar

First off, booking is important! Indeed, we were there on a Sunday afternoon and it was heaving! We had booked the day before but could only get a lunch table at 3 pm. So, book early!

Just inside the door as we entered was a Maitre d’ / receptionist. The backdrop here is of the turning waterwheel. Also, it’s a striking reminder of the history of the building! See the video further on for the waterwheel. We found the staff to be very friendly and attentive when they were at the table but there was quite a waiting time between visits to said table. But, more on the service later.

Below is a video of the inside and outside of the Mill at Elstead.

Building

The building is a squarish brick construction that puts you in mind of the weaving and cloth mills. Inside the decor is fairly contemporary but always with a nod at the past.

The layout inside is quite an open plan, echoing the roots of the building. However, the downside of this is it can be quite noisy as there is no sound baffling on the floor we were on. However, there were big tables allowing for big groups at it would be an excellent place to hold a birthday party.

History

There has been a Mill at this location for years. It was occupied by the Roundheads in 1647 and alas burnt down. A new mill for grinding corn was built the next year in 1648 and milled until the late 18th Century.

In the 19th century, it moved into haberdashery, making braid for military uniform. Over 100 people worked on-site and a bell tower was installed to call all the workers to the mill.

The Mill at Elstead History

As you can see by the photos, the Mill at Elstead reflects its history in every room.

Food

The price of food was about average for Surrey. The Sunday roasts were between £14 to £17 with other mains on the menu at about £12.

Now, here comes the tricky bit. I found the service to be unbelievably slow! Now, this may be a case of the fact that when we booked we were given a two-hour slot at the table and they fit the meal to that time. That is one possible reason. Or, they may just have been slow. I think I’ll err on the former rather than the latter.

Also, we were on the first floor, not the ground floor. The ground floor did seem to be a bit more intimate. However, back to the times, it did take 40 minutes for our dessert to arrive.

The other problem was I couldn’t get Rioja by the glass so I had to go for the Malbec instead, which, by the way, was perfectly acceptable. But as long-time readers will know, Rioja is my tipple of choice.

But now, the good! We found tasty food, standard pub fare but homemade in parts, like the burger pictured below. Indeed, I say homemade in parts because you can mostly tell when a burger or other food is homemade or has come from a catering company.

So, after all that, my thoughts are to go for the food and just accept it may be slow. Honestly, it’s worth it for the food.

Pub Garden

The garden and seating area outside is big. With the mill race and stream running through the pub, there is a lot of water to sit round in the summer. As you can see in the photo below, it was autumn when we visited but I will definitely be back at The Mill at Elstead in the Summer!

The Mill at Elstead Mill Pond

The Mill at Elstead – Conclusions

We visited on a Sunday lunchtime and it does seem to cater for families well. We ended up moving tables as three couples and what sounded like 200 children arrived but were in fact only 6 children who proceeded to run around screaming like lunatics as children do. The staff were very apologetic. Apparently one of the mothers apologised too but still, we could hear the screaming and running about once we’d moved.

So if you have kids it’s a great place weekend daytime. But, if you prefer a quieter environment make it weekdays or evenings. That way everyone is happy.

But, that being said, it’s well worth a visit. The history and the building are a joy.

All prices correct at time of writing.

Where

The Mill at Elstead map

The Mill at Elstead
Farnham Road
Elstead
Surrey
GU8 6LE

Tel:01252 703333

themill.elstead@fullers.co.uk

The Mill at Elstead

To reiterate, I don’t do paid reviews and I only include pubs that have something notable about them. However, If you know a pub that you think would make a good addition to this list, for historical or quirky reasons, leave a comment below!

More in my Historic Pubs in Surrey series

The Surrey Oaks – Newdigate

The Mill at Elstead

Gomshall Mill – Gomshall

The Plough – Coldharbour

The Crown Inn – Chiddingfold

Stephan Langton – Friday Street

The Grantley Arms Wonersh

The Red Lion – Betchworth

The White Horse – Shere

Dog and Pheasant – Brook

White Hart – Whitley

Surrey Hills Pub Drive

Surrey Oaks Newdigate

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