 The Middleton family owned the mill and its associated buildings outright by this time; another prosperous local businessman, Leonard Gale, bought it in 1715.By 1759 it had passed out of his family and began a 50-year period in which various combinations of partners owned it.By this time it was the largest corn mill in the area; when Napoleon threatened to invade the United Kingdom, a survey was undertaken to determine the output of all mills, which found that Ifield Mill could supply 16 sacks of flour and 120 loaves of bread each day.