The area of Ifield Millpond has a long history of industrial activity, with the earliest feature found being a late 12th century medieval iron bloomery which was discovered during 2014/15 when the pond had been drained to enable work to be carried out on the dam. The remains of the bloomery, along with an adjacent bloomery of either C13 or C15, were found next to what was the original path of Ifield Brook before the shallow valley was dammed to create what we now know as the Millpond. Further bloomeries from the same eras have been found alongside Broadfield Brook and the Douster Brook in Bewbush, just before both enter the millpond, and there are undoubtedly many more yet to be discovered.

The pond was constructed in the late 1560s and Ifield Forge, powered by the pond, was in operation by 1569 as a finery forge for the pig iron produced at nearby Bewbush Furnace. The forge, which was on land owned by the Crown at the time, was destroyed by Sir William Waller's Parliamentarian troops in 1643 during the English Civil War and was not used again. The charred remains of the forge and one of the wheelpits, as well as the sluice for this wheel, were discovered during the 2014/15 works where the new spillway now flows. The area of the second wheelpit was not excavated and it will still be in situ under the modern pathway between the two spillways. The timber framed house on the banks of the pond, known as The Millhouse and until recently a public house, was the iron masters house and is contemporary with the forge.

The first corn mill was constructed on the site in 1660 where the forge stood, but this was replaced in 1683 by a larger building on the site of the present mill, which was constructed in 1817 and restored during the 1970s. The date stone in the front wall of the present mill was taken from the 1683 build and contains the initials of Thomas & Mary Middleton. Ifield Mill ceased to be a commercial operation in 1925.