This phase of the site was the most substantial recorded and combined the end of a headrace at the north of the site leading into a wheel pit within the footprint of the mill building. The cog pit/wheel pit was located to the east of the water wheel pit. The main outline of the mill was represented by large cut stone foundations. These are thought to date to the early-mid 18th century but may be the foundations of an earlier building that has been reused or be made up of stone from another building that has been recycled.

Stone walls were orientated north west – south east. They are thought to represent the southern wall of the mill. They were separated by a gap of approximately 5m which is presumed to represent an entrance to the mill. One wall turned at its west end to run for approximately 3m to the north, orientated north west – south east.

To the north west of the wall, a further cut stone foundation was observed which had the remnants of a mid 18th century (R Sheppard, pers. com) brick foundation above it. The brick work forms an insubstantial foundation/wall base over what is a very substantial stone foundation. Constructed from white limestone this stone foundation was nicely faced on its southern side mirroring the outer wall to the south east. Excavation of a sondage part way along revealed it was 0.8m deep. Given the location of this wall it is thought to form part of the structure associated with supporting the axle tree, which would have been located to the north and which would have required load bearing walls.

Abutting this at its east end, a further stone wall foundation, constructed out of white limestone was observed orientated north west – south east. This had the remnants of a floor level on its south west side and a large area of 18th century brick floor on its north east side, which remained intact to a good standard. This floor led to what must have been a doorway at the back of the mill, at the eastern end of the outer wall which was indicated by a wooden threshold.

On the eastern side of the brick floor and integrated within it, was a sunken trough feature approximately 0.7m x 2.5m in length. It was divided into two sections by a small curved brick wall. At its eastern end was a cast iron pipe (which is likely to have functioned as an overflow outlet pipe taking material out toward the tail race end of the mill). Excavation of this feature revealed that the bricks on the interior of this trough had been subjected to intense heat; furthermore the fill of this feature consisted of several large fragments of firebrick often used in environments requiring intense heat such as a furnace, kiln or hearth. It is unclear at present what this feature may represent. It may have been used to dry grain or the mill may have had a secondary purpose such as acting as a distillery.

Adjacent to the trough on its southern edge was a linear brick feature orientated north east – south west which combined a brick wall and floor. This feature does not appear to be a wall having no evidence for bonding and it is too narrow to be a floor or walkway but it appears to be related to the trough.

Running north from the west end of mid 18th century bruck foundation, a substantial faced stone wall was noted, ending 0.2m from the northern extent of the excavation areas. The water wheel pit was located to the west of this wall with the wheel/cog pit to the east.

Inner walls formed the remainder of the structure housing the wheel/cog pit, an area in which an internal wheel turned by the water wheel and the upright shaft for the cog mechanisms would have stood. This was orientated in an east - west direction, one wall of the structure was robust being three bricks in width (0.45m) 2m (visible) and 0.5m in depth. This was abutted by another wall which was a further substantial block of masonry measuring 0.65m x 1.5m (visible) x 0.5m. This wall formed the eastern inside edge of the wheel/cog pit which measured 3m x 0.65m x 0.5m. It had a brick floor.

The water wheel pit was located to the west of the wheel/cog pit structure. It was defined on either side by large stone blocks. On the north east side this was a stone block which measured 0.2m x 6m (visible) x 0.4m and the stone block on the south west side which measured 0.26m x 0.5m (visible) x 0.6m. Situated between these parallel stone walls, the base of the wheel pit was visible and surviving in good condition. From the northern edge of one evaluation area, this area would have been fed water via the dam head race inlet end of the water wheel pit, a finely made brick floor angled at 45º could be observed entering the water wheel pit area. The bricks have been identified as the same early to mid 18th type in keeping with the majority of this mill. This construction is almost certainly designed in this way to create maximum downward velocity forcing the water to hit the wheel at its optimum speed; this early 18th century wheel may have been an ‘undershot’ wheel as was common at the time.

Located on the western side of the water wheel pit wall, a number of roughly hewn large stones were noted abutting and clearly supporting the water wheel pit wall; this would have provided extra support on this exterior side which was not connected or supported by the main mill structure. Furthermore it is likely this stone revetment would originally have been covered with an earthen bank.

The water wheel pit floor abruptly ended at a low wall orientated north east – south west which divided the wheel pit from the tail race. The floor level dropped into the tail race by 1m to the south of this wall. The tail race had a fine flagstone floor surviving in good condition, The inner wall of the tail race exit was constructed at an angle of approximately 80 degrees. This would have been mirrored on the opposing side and would have allowed the water from the water wheel pit to flow through this area with greater speed.

Abutting the large stones, a brick wall structure constructed with mid 18th brickwork and orientated roughly east - west was observed; this appeared to have an opening which had subsequently been patched up at a later date using a large stone doorway threshold measuring 1m in length. The purpose of these alterations is unknown however the feature itself is likely to represent an overflow sluice running from the side of the dam.

Excavation of a sondage in this area showed that fine waterborne gravels had been deposited up against this wall consistent with the flow and settling of gravels along the periphery of the dam. Unusually these gravels had been cemented together presumably via a process of mineralisation caused by an iron rich water source. The iron may have been from industrial contamination of the river or perhaps by the presence of iron components and mechanisms in the water next to the mill which may have led to iron particles leaching into the water over time.

At the far western end of one evauation area, part of a substantial stone block could be observed, the size and type of stone was similar to those observed in the water wheel pit structure; unfortunately with only a tantalising glimpse of this feature it is difficult to ascertain what it relates to, however given the location, it probably will form part of a sluice gate structure, which may or may not be contemporary with a brick wall.

Further hand excavation in a further evaluation area demonstrated that much of the south west interior of the mill was densely packed with coarse angular stone. The stones varied between 50mm-150mm in diameter. These stones continued on the east side of the baulk within another evaluation area as a demolition layer and appeared to have a distinct edge forming somewhat of a north east – south west linear alignment. It is possible these may represent hard-core material on which an 18th century floor was constructed, however the possibility of it relating to some other earlier feature cannot be eliminated.

R. Parker and J. Winfer, 2015, Toton Unearthed, Toton, Nottinghamshire: Report on an archaeological evaluation on the site of Toton Mill, Manor Farm Recreation Ground, August to September 2014, Pages 13-15 (Unpublished document). SNT5918.