AN historic feature of Okehampton which is popular with Dartmoor walkers faces an uncertain future.

The old water wheel in Mill Road, Okehampton, stopped running last week, and Beryl Holley says she is unable to afford the major repairs needed to allow it to turn again.

Beryl says she fears she will be forced to let the wheel lapse into disrepair again unless she can get assistance to carry out the repairs, estimated at £3,000, and safeguard future maintenance of the wheel.

Unusually, the waterwheel is privately owned and its maintenance is the sole responsibility of the owner of the adjoining flat. Beryl bought the waterwheel and its associated structures with the ground floor flat 17 years ago.

At the time, the wheel, stone walls and sluice gates were all in a poor state of repair and could not be used. The main wall structure was in danger of collapse and had to be supported.

Over the next few years, with the advice and guidance of Finch Foundry at Sticklepath, repairs were carried out to a high standard at a cost of more than £15,000.

Beryl said: ?It is part of Okehampton?s heritage. It would be an awful shame to allow it to fall back into disrepair.

?I would like to think it can be retained because it is a feature of Okehampton. If it is left to go into disrepair it will cost a great deal more to take it back into working order.?

In 1998, further repairs became necessary and generous assistance was given by local organisations, including West Devon Borough Council and Okehampton Town Council, and some private individuals.Those repairs cost more than £1,500, but the major works needed now would cost at least double that figure.

The wheel is believed to have been cast in the Victorian era by a Hatherleigh firm. It is also believed the site may have been the medieval site of the original mill. The wheel had been worked as a grain mill until the 1950s but by the time it was acquired by Beryl had fallen into disrepair.

She said: ?Since 1991, apart from pauses for repairs and maintenance, I have kept the wheel running and it has attracted much interest from visitors to Okehampton, particularly moor walkers and those following the Okehampton Trail or cycle route.

?Coaches also make a detour to pass the mill and take photographs. As recently as last Friday, two coaches stopped and the drivers asked my neighbour why the wheel wasn?t turning: they said they had brought participants in the Ten Tors event specially to see the wheel.?

A study group of French and German visitors had also come to record the wheel, which is a particularly fine example of an overshot water wheel.

Beryl said she and neighbour Jean Samuel, of Mill House, tried each year to make their corner of Okehampton ?as attractive as possible? by tending the garden and keeping the area around the wheel tidy. She said comments had shown their efforts were appreciated by local people and visitors alike.

After the wheel stopped turning last week, an engineering inspection estimated it would cost £3,000 to get it turning again, with provision for a possible further £1,500 if required upon detailed inspection.

Mrs Samuel said Beryl had been very upset when she heard how much the repairs would cost. ?It was a beautiful working mill. It brings money into the town because people who look at the mill use the shops of the town,? she said.

She said Beryl had worked enormously hard and spent a considerable amount of money to get the wheel fully operational again, and had been greasing the wheel every week to keep it running.

Beryl said she had approached the Okehampton United Non-Ecclesiastical Trust to ask for their help. The group will discuss at its next meeting whether it is able to offer financial assistance.