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A selection from the correspondence with visitors to our web site
2-June 2014 Peter Jeffery BERWICK AND LEIGH MILLS Peter Jeffery has been doing some family research based around Berwick, and has come up with a number of references to a windmill which did not appear to be recorded on our website.
He has sent us copies of the documents, some from the East Sussex Records Office, and a copy of one page of the 1841 census for Berwick showing a miller, and a millers loader.
Peter us also curious as to whether there was at one time a watermill near Berwick Court. An 1840 Tithe Map for Berwick names a field adjacent to the river Cuckmere as "Mill Field" There also appears to be a series of ponds and a water course, which could have been the power source for a mill. He has sent a photo of Leigh Mill Hurstpierpoint, taken in 1964, a few years before it was demolished.
Stuart Meier has contacted us : I attended the last Sussex Mills Group meeting on behalf of Oldland Mill, and look forward to the next meeting. First, can I thank Peter Casebow and Brian Pike for their useful comments re: the use of the brake on a spring shutter mill - as a result, and after a visit to High Salvington Mill, the normal procedure at Oldland Mill is use to use the brake to stop the mill, not to try to turn the mill out of wind. This has worked extremely well, and has overcome a real psychological hurdle in our 'getting milling'. Our experience has mostly so far been in moderate winds, say a Beaufort 5 ('Fresh Breeze') and we are still commissioning parts of the mill and trying to get adequate alignment between the brake teeth and the stone nut. Once that is achieved, the question will arise 'how strong a wind is too strong ?' Can I ask for advice therefore as to how strong a wind is considered too strong when milling by different mills - i.e., at what point do they consider it sensible to call it a day !
Michael Harverson is transcribing a directory of Sussex millers from the Frank Gregory Collection. He has found a reference to a mill at BREADSELL in 1748 and a mill a FREWEN'S PARK which was in use until 1875. Sussex Mills Group have found a reference to the name Frewen, being a family that lived in a large Tudor house called 'Brickwall' at Northiam which did boast two mills at one time, but grid references for these don't tally with the location of the house. They must have been a family of some note as there is a chapel dedicated to them in Northiam church. We would be interested to hear from anyone who has information on the above two mills.
4-May 2008 A E T Mann MYSTERY WATERMILL
It was painted by my wife's grandfather Philip Thornhill. He was commissioned to paint four pictures, probably in the late 1890s. Rather by lack than judgement we have recently found that two of the landscapes are of Bury in Sussex, so perhaps the watermill could be from the same area. Our mill looks such a beautiful one and it would be such a bonus to find out about it and even more of a bonus if it still exists.
Please contact us if you are able to identify this mill
4-Mar-2008 David Coward LOWDER MILL
I note you list the mill in your web site but don't have a photograph so wondered if you would like one which I took very recently : Do you by chance have any old drawings, photographs or historical information about Lowder Mill, especially the date it started to operate and when it gained its name? Regarding the name, Lowder Mill, I came across the following web site:
My research is mainly involved with the people who lived in North Ambersham so I do have some information, mainly 1800s and early 1900s, on those who were the owners and millers at Lowder Mill. You would be welcome to share it. I do hope you will be able to assist and I look forward to UPDATE December 2012
My current research interests are centred around the village of North Mundham near Chichester and, having noted that you don't appear to have pictures of Runcton Mill, I can offer you three. They are photographed copies of pictures owned by others and, to the best of my knowledge have no copywrite claims attached, other than, perhaps, St Stephen's Church for whom I am the archivist and historian, so I see no problem with you incorporating them if you wish.
27-Feb-2008 Brian Holloway J W HOLLOWAY & SONS
James founded JW Holloway and Sons in 1863, a firm that was handed down to my grandfather and father and finally wound up in 1973. The firm which was later called Holloway Brothers and then Holloway's Engineers grew from mill work into agricultural engineering, bicycle manufacture and general engineering plus a car dealership. I have a J W Holloway nameplate from an early steam ploughing engine which they made. If you or any of your members have any further information of J W Holloway or the engineering works his firm undertook, or any pictures of mills and machinery they worked on, then I'd be very interested to
27-Jan-2008 Brian French AN EARLY AUSTRALIAN MILLSTONE
The millstone has recently come in to the possession of Prospect Heritage Trust, of which I am the President. It was discovered during quarrying road metal on land formerly occupied by William Lawson. Lawson is an iconic figure in early Australian history who in 1813 with two other men discovered a route over the Blue Mountains to the west of Sydney, enabling the colony to survive. Prior to this, grazing and arable land was in short supply and of poor condition. In opening up the west, fertile plains became immediately available. Lawson was one of the first settlers and owned vast areas of land, an area nearly the size of Sussex in the UK.
The Millstone is probably circa 1815 to 1825 and appears to have been driven by convicts or by a horse. The upper side appears designed for the attachment of a long drive shaft to rotate the stone. I am hoping that someone can identify the type of stone and how it was utilized.
17-Aug-2006 Tess Galvin BROADBRIDGE MILL, BOSHAM
Do you know of any pictures of its existence ? I was thinking of going to Emsworth Library to research it, but then came across the Sussex Mills Group website. REPLY: BROADBRIDGE MILL, BOSHAM This was a large watermill fitted with a roller mill system. This is an ancient site referred to in 1283. Kelly's directories gives an indication of the occupancy of the mill during the 19th century when Thomas Gatehouse took over in 1851, and later in 1893 he is mentioned in an article in The Miller when a 2 sack roller system was installed. The new system was powered by both a 10 HP steam engine and an overshot waterwheel, 11feet 4 inches diameter by 12 feet wide. Samuel Gatehouse took over in 1905 and continued until 1918, being followed by W. Bignall, but he only had a short tenancy for the mill was demolished in 1922. Its position was significant, as a sale advertisement in the Brighton Herald in March 1816 highlighted the fact that it was situated near to the turnpike road from Chichester to Portsmouth. The mill was served by an elongated millpond which was bisected by the railway in 1847. However the Ordnance Survey map of 1897 shows the millpond had been made larger to the north of the railway line. Extracted from "Watermills of West Sussex" by Derek Stidder and Colin Smith Today the millpond exists together with some odd pieces of brickwork in the partial remains of the wheelpit. A new housing estate is now built on the site with the millpond retained as a water feature. FURTHER INFORMATION FROM JANE BECK I am researching my G+++ grandfather a John Cousens (c1757-1831) who was a corn merchant and miller, Burgess of Portsmouth who then moved to Prinsted. He leased at one time the Slipper Mill in Emsworth and also another one as detailed below ( source: the London gazette):
15-Mar-2005 Rod Barker WESTHAM MILL
She is shown on the 1778 map of the area and was within the Parish of Westham, but on the outskirts of the hamlet of Hankham, so I cannot confirm by what name she was known. She should not be confused with the mill built by Dallaway at Stone Cross in the 1870s. The road is still called Mill Hill, but the mill is not shown on the 1957 O/S map. The miller in the Victorian period was Charles Crisford. He was born in 1809 and his father was Samuel Crisford. He was shown on 1832 Piggots Directory as the miller with Charles. I assume this was father and son. Charles Crisford is shown on the 1881 census as a miller with his son, Albert aged 33, also as a miller. It seems likely that this was a third generation (at least) working this site. In a little book "A Place in Time" by Colin Huggett (2002 M & S Print Services) there are various items that the author recalls from his childhood in the 1930s/40s around Hankham. On page 24 he states "Today standing at the top of the hill looks so very different. A large dwelling has replaced the grange at Hunters Lodge and the old centre post of the mill which stood like a sentinel on the bank now long gone."' I assume from this that the mill was on the top of the small rise next to the road. REPLY: WESTHAM MILL You are correct in that the last miller was Charles Crisford and appeared on Admiralty charts as a navigational aid to be used in conjunction with Westham Church tower. It is perhaps interesting to note that well after she had disappeared, the Admiralty continued to use Stone Cross as the 'other' mill for navigational sightings with an obvious offset. The site of Crisford's Mill today is on Mill Farm [between the bypass and Peelings Lane along Hankham Hall Road] and although the actual site has not been built on it is almost impossible to appreciate the position. A photo taken in 1980 shows pieces of Derbyshire Peak millstones from the mill being used to form a path in a rockery. The only other mill in the area was known as Pevensey Mill (see OS maps 1860-1874) but was in fact located in Westham on what is today the site of a housing development known as Church Bailey. The site was to the NE of the railway station. The hollow post pumping mill is now at Singleton Open Air Museum in West Sussex. Stone Cross tower windmill is at TQ 619043 and was built in 1875/6.
5-Dec-2004 Nick Allen MOTT'S MILL, WITHYHAM
There is a hamlet in Sussex whose name suggests there must have been a mill there at some time. It's Mott's Mill in the Parish of Withyham. My 1910 O.S. 1:2500 map of the area shows a stream running in a NE direction but with no building actually on the stream. Further up the stream in Jockeys Wood there is marked a "Sluice" and "Hydraulic Ram" - the latter twice. So it seems there must have been something going on here at sometime. My 1874 map of similar scale shows neither buildings on the stream nor works as shown in 1910. If any of your members have any knowledge about this area or can suggest any possibilities as to the type of mill which may have existed here or the uses to which it may been put, I will be delighted to hear from you. REPLY: MOTT'S MILL MOTT'S MILL Withyham Trib to River Medway TQ 523 353 WITHYHAM MILL Withyham Trib to River Medway TQ 496 356
This is an ancient mill site that was used extensively by the iron industry. Surprisingly, very little is recorded about the mill and following the cessation of the corn milling industry, a pumping mill was set up here. The pump was powered by a 8ft diameter waterwheel and drove 3 throw pumps. The pump house has fallen into disrepair and hidden beneath a mass of tangled vegetation.
Should you have any further information on Mott's Mill,
13-Feb-2004 Graham Vincent SOUTH CHAILEY WINDMILL
REPLY: SOUTH CHAILEY WINDMILL Just off the Lewes to Chailey road A275 in the village of South Common. TQ388176 Inside the derelict shell of this single-storey brick base is a carved datestone; "I WICKER 1813", which suggested that the mill was built here in that year. A mill was shown at Yokehurst, half a mile south-east of here on the first Ordnance Survey map and the present one first appeared on Greenwood's map of 1823. The mill was said to have been moved to the present site from Yokehurst. The Sussex Weekly Advertiser bears out local belief, and shows how misleading some datemarks can in fact be: September 18th 1808 "To be sold on 8th October next. A large good timbered smock mill adjoining Chailey South Common- to be removed-before next May." This obviously referred to Yokehurst mill which had stood for some time as shown by an earlier notice dated 20th August 1790: "Wanted a miller at Michelmas next, a steady sober man as grinder to a windmill at Chailey South Common - none need apply unless he is of good character and thorough master of his business. NB It is a new erected mill." . . . and so it would appear that the smock mill was built at Yokehurst in 1790 or a little earlier and removed to the present site in 1808/9, too late to be recorded on the first Ordnance Survey map at the new position. Mr Nicholas Olive was the owner in 1790 and the datestone may well be the mark of a miller in 1813 or commemorated raising the mill. The Hamshar family came soon after and were here until 1862, when Henry Hamshar died. The white smock mill with a fantail started life with common sweeps. Later converted to two spring sweeps and two commons, and finished her working life with two patent sweeps driving a pair of burrs and a pair of peak stones. The was around 1887. The mill had been damaged in 1884 by a gale resulting in the removal of two sweeps. Most of the machinery was taken out by 1890 and the shell then became derelict. A local lady remembered well the mill standing here in 1906 beside Martin's bakery. Mr J R Martin came here in 1866 and the family continued until 1900 when Mr F B Avery took on the business, keeping Martin's name. A very poor postcard {Gurney Wilson Collection} shows this derelict smock mill circa 1900 carrying a four-way iron windshaft. We can see in this illustration here just how stout the brickwork is, fully three courses thick and with eight tapering buttresses three courses thick at the base. For a number of years, part of the wooden smock tower remained, and the whole was used as a store.{Sussex Curiosities No2 a photograph in West Sussex Gazette, 1922, Worthing Reference Library} [The above information was extracted from "The Windmills Of Sussex" by Martin Brunnarius, published by Phillimore in 1979. ISBN 0 85033 345 8.]
5-Mar-2004 Martin Jenner RINGMER POST MILL
 REPLY: RINGMER POST MILL Ringmer post mill collapsed with a resounding crash in 1925. All that survives today is the trestle, though on closer inspection you will find that only the post is original. It is supported on 'reproduction' quarter bars. The cross trees have gone and the whole assembly is now set in concrete. The site is easily found by taking the turning to Glyndebourne off the A265 Ringmer to Lewes road. Further information on Ringmer Post Mill The National Grid Reference is TQ 450 112
19-Apr-2004 David Friend OLDLAND POST MILL
I would have thought that somewhere there is a figure available of the Brake horsepower required to drive one pair of stones whilst milling wheat. The starting torque should not be a problem with a steam engine. There will be power losses depending on the power train from engine to stones which we will have to allow for. REPLY: 28-Jun-2004 Richard Patterson I hope the following may assist. It
is taken from Molesworth's Pocket Book of Useful Formulae
& Memoranda for Civil and Mechanical Engineers, 1893
Edition, presented to my Grandfather in February 1894 when he
was an Engineer Student at Devonport Yard.
It states the
ordinary dimensions of windmill sails to be
as follows:-
Length of
whip 30 feet
Breadth of
base 12 inches
Depth at
base 9
inches
Breadth at
tip 6 inches
Depth at
tip
4.5 inches
In the case
of an old mill where it is still possible to see the
number of sails that existed, one can, using these dimensions,
work out next part of the calculation.
This says that, in
terms of Horse-Power, where -
HP =
Horse-Power
V =
Velocity of the wind in feet per second
A =
Total Area of sails in square feet
A
= HP
1080000
V3
HP
=
A V3
1080000
It cheekily adds
that :-
"Velocity of tips
of sails = 2.6V, nearly".
I suggest this
approaches the problem in a slightly different way than your
correspondent suggests. Using this formula one can
estimate the amount of HP that a windmill would have generated
under sail for a moderate wind speed and know that this must
have been sufficient to do the job. (A windmill that was
only efficient in a raging gale would have been next to
useless.) Hence a generator of that rating would be
sufficient to do the job. I am not a physicist and
therefore do not understand the insistence on brake
horse-power. It seems that this is some
post-Molesworthian, new-fangled idea.
22-Dec-2006 Bonnie Priest ENERGY GENERATED BY RESTORED WINDMILLS
13-Apr-06 John Mitchell BOREHAM STREET MILL
Do you have any knowledge of this particular Mill ? I would be greatful for any info. Regards John Mitchell. (Crowborough) REPLY: BOREHAM STREET MILL
Boreham Street Post Mill was built in 1848 by a Lewes millwright. Originally she was built on a very low roundhouse, but due to the growth of neighbouring trees, she was raised on a brick built three storeyed roundhouse. She was a white mill with four double shuttered spring sweeps. The mill was not very large only containing two pairs of stones. She was built for Robert and George Edmunds who only used her for two years. She was then owned by Herbert Curteis of Windmill Hill Place for many years. She remained a corn mill until 1915, when the mill closed down and the sweeps were removed. It appears she was finally demolished in December 1925. RESPONSE: BOREHAM STREET MILL
6-May-2004 Maureen Hague BRIGHTLING MILL
Since then I have been down to Sussex to see the site of the remains of Cox's Mill and Darwell Mill near Brightling and Dallington, where my grandfather Charles Frederick Clark and William Frederick Clark were millers during the second half of the 19th century. A document at Lewes Record Office relates to a fatal accident at the mill. A brief precis of that document follows :- George Clark on the night of 17th May 1864 being engaged at work in a certain Water Corn Mill situate at Darwell Pond called Brightling Mill in the parish of Battle, the property of William Clark, Miller and then going by the draft of the stream of water of the said pond for the purpose of grinding corn, it so happened that accidentally and by misfortune the said George Clark became entangled in machinery and he was drawn into the Pit Wheel. He received a mortal fracture of the left leg and also a fracture of the right leg. He underwent an amputation of the left leg and did languish and languishing did live on for two days. Update : June 2007
1-Jun-2004 Karen Holden BODLE STREET GREEN WINDMILL
Having visited Bodle Street Green, I was fortunate to be able to talk with the ground keeper at the Church, who was able to show me where the mill was situated, and told me that it was a ruin in his youth, perhaps fifty or more years ago. Does anyone have any more information about this mill and the millers ? REPLY: BODLE STREET GREEN WINDMILL
She started life as an open-trestle mill and worked as such for many years. A wooden roundhouse was later built round the trestle. This has now practically disappeared, only some of the wooden sides, lying fallen around the trestle, remaining, so that she has once again gone back to the open-trestle of olden days - this time as a result of disuse and bad weather. To reach the mill turn off the Herstmonceux - Bexhill road at Windmill Hill, to the left, along a narrow lane, which leads direct to the hamlet of Bodle Street Green. The mill stands on the right, in a field, just before one reaches the point where the road forks, one road leading to Cade Street, the other to Dallington.
I was not able to fix the exact date of this mill, but Mr. King, who for years worked, and later owned, the mill, and who now still lives close by, told me that he believes that she is between 150 to 160 years old. She was built for a miller called Smith. She has, at various times, suffered a good deal from the elements, one gale, in 1818, doing great damage, the date of this being cut on the centre-post of the mill; while another also did damage to the mill some fourteen years ago. The mill ceased working about 1924. She worked two pairs of stones, one peak and one French burr, and she was also equipped with a flour-machine and a crusher, which were later removed from the mill. Shortly before she stopped work for good a new oak breast was fitted, and the working body of the mill is still in fairly good repair. But, as mentioned above, the roundhouse has fallen to bits and the quarter-beams, not being dressed, have got rather rotten, and one is unsafe and would have to be replaced if ever the mill, which is unfortunately unlikely, were put into commission again. This mill has been for sale for some time and is in the hands of Messrs. Eyre of Lewes. Some little time ago an effort was made to buy the mill and to preserve her as an ancient monument, but this fell through, as the funds subscribed were insufficient to pay the price asked for her. The present owners are W. H. Gaze & Sons Ltd., 19-23 High Street, Kingston-on-Thames. N.B. I am sorry to record that since writing the above, news has reached me that this nice old mill has been pulled down.
26-Oct-2004 Ted Fletcher LEADEN TOKENS AND TALLIES
Please ARTICLES AND RESPONSES:
Philip Hicks The newsletter of the Wind And Watermill Section of S.P.A.B Issue 61 [October 1994]
The newsletter of the Wind And Watermill Section of S.P.A.B Issue 63 [April 1995] {Ken Major}
Two modern adaptations have been made of these tokens. The badge of the International Molinological Society contains a reproduction of the token issued in 1667 by a Joseph Petty, a publican of Southwark The double-faced silver medal struck to celebrate the S.P.A.B. Wind And Watermill Section's 50 years of activity contains the Appledore Windmill on one face and the Perth Watermill on the other. Other relevant tokens:
The above are token coins which were used at a time when small change was in very short supply. Employers, shops and banks issued their own small coins halfpenny, penny and shilling, to make good this discrepancy. In another class is the sack token, of which the Tide Mill at St Issey, Cornwall, is the best known. This dates from the time when written records were not always kept, and the farmer handing in a sack would receive a token to record this. These were usually holed so that they could be strung together. In medalets, never used as coins but souvenirs, comes Albion Mills, Blackfriars, built by Boulton and Watt and burnt out in March 1791. The newsletter of the Wind And Watermill Section of S.P.A.B Issue 63 [April 1995] {Nigel Moon}
Please
13-Jul-2007 John Ballard BALLARD'S MILL, PATCHAM ½ m. S. of Church 3 miles from Brighton Sussex
Four succeeding generations worked the mill. Ballards mill, as she had become known, operated two pairs of millstones and was equipped with a six -blade fan and a hand chain wheel. Ebenezer Ballard was the last miller the main structure was demolished about 1900 the ground floor was retained as a store until 1920s and had disappeared by 1926 Ten years later the mill house and stable were still standing. Ebenezer and his wife continued to live in the mill house operating a bakery after milling ceased. Just before the First World War the business was call Ballard's Steam Bakery situated on the north side of Patcham Grange. In addition to being a miller, baker and corn merchant, he sold garden sheds of every description, and hired out pony traps. He was also the proprietor of a horse bus service to Patcham leaving the Stanford Arms public house at Preston Circus every thirty minutes. There were three "Richard Ballard"s at Patcham
The family also worked Falmer Mill during 1850s and the Race Hill Mill for a few years in the 1870s Samuel Ballard son of Richard Ballard 3 broke the mill tradition when he moved to Snargate Kent with his wife Jane he worked as a Gardener he died at Tonbridge Road Maidstone on the 19th October 1848 aged 72 His Son Joel Ballard moved to Beddington Farm Croydon Surrey were he worked as farm bailiff and later moved into Mitcham with his wife Eliza formally Compton from Broadwater Source Information: Mills & Millers Of Brighton by H T Dawes; Dwelling Mill House ; Census Place Patcham, Sussex, England ; Family History Library Film 1341259 ; Public Records Office Reference RG11 Piece / Folio 1100 / 104 Page Number 8 FILE - Release from a sum of £500 & interest charged thereon by the Will of the late Mr Ric Ballard - ref. SAS-B/930 - date: 4 Oct 1853
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Union of Appledore, Kent (1794)
Weybridge mills token
