68: Letheringsett Mill
Norfolk's only working watermill at Letheringsett.
If you want to taste bread like the Romans made it, head to north Norfolk.
A watermill has stood on the River Glaven at Letheringsett, near Holt, since the Middle Ages. Its first mention comes in the Domesday Book of 1086, but it must have been used before that. The mill has gravitated downstream a couple of hundred yards, and the building has been reconstructed a time or two, but the scene has been much the same for more than a thousand years. Owners have come and gone, court cases have raged around it and it has survived flood and fire. Recently it has been rescued from ruin, and turned into both a tourist attraction and a working mill again. Today it is Norfolk’s only working watermill.
Built by the Romans, perhaps?
Domesday tells us that the mill was built by Walter Gifford. The miller was a person of some substance in his district, as most farmers would have to bring their grain to him for milling – and he would be able to charge handsomely for the privilege. Milling has been around in England for a long time, although it was probably the Romans who created the first watermills.
Windmills followed, becoming more prevalent, particularly in East Anglia, during the 12th century and beyond. Gifford was followed by others; Thomas de Saxlingham in 1383 inadvertently caused the first court case involving the mill. He was in the process of selling the business to John de Keyly and William de Gatele when he inconveniently died before conveyance had been completed. Clearly buying a property could be as complicated then as it is now; it took an order from Westminster before the new owners could take over.
What was the mill like then?
We’re not sure – but it was nothing like the substantial building there now. The mills mentioned in Domesday Book referred only to the actual pairs of mill stones, not the buildings in which they were housed, so it may have been a rudimentary affair. It is possible the corn was brought in by sea at one time when the coast was closer to the village – there was once a jetty upstream of the mill so it could have been landed there. In 1744 the mill burned down, and John Priest, who already owned a papermill at Sheringham, took on the task of rebuilding it. The considerable investment proved too much for him though; a decade later he went bankrupt and it was bought by William Coll.
Was it an easy business to be in?
Some would say it was a licence to print money, but a miller’s life was not one of ease. Apart from the physical effort of running the machinery, the miller had to control his water flow. This was easier said than done. By trying to do so, particularly when rainfall was excessive or in times of drought, he could upset his neighbours by altering the flow of the river both upstream and downstream. The mill had already been moved downstream earlier in the century.
William Coll recorded his own changes in 1765 with an inscription on the weir which can still be seen, saying: “This water mark settled in the year 1765”. A later miller, Richard Rouse, who bought the mill from Coll’s son, Solomon, (who preferred school teaching to milling) ran into legal trouble when he cut a hole in the river bank to release floodwater on to farm land.
When the floods subsided and he no longer had enough water to run the mill he tried to repair the bank. But the farmer, a clergyman called John Burrell, rather liked having the extra water for his fields. He refused permission, and the matter went to court.
These cases could go on a long time, and the outcome was unpredictable (as in George Eliot’s The Mill on the Floss where miller Mr Tulliver is ruined by a lawsuit). Fortunately for Mr Rouse, he got a favouirable result at Norwich Assizes in 1786.
A canny miller...
Flushed with success, and £90 damages, Rouse built the brick mill we see today in 1802, as well as a new house. He was a good businessman, but his son, Zebulon, was not. Imprisoned for debt in 1801, on his father’s death in 1816 the mill was left to his executors.
Eventually it came to ‘Uncle’ William Hardy, owner of Letheringsett Hall and estate as well as the nearby brewery in whose family it remains.
Letheringsett continued as a working mill, and was always a thriving concern. Various alterations were made, but it was evolution rather than revolution; the cast-iron wheel frames date from the late 19th century although the rest of the machinery is probably 20th century. A diesel engine was added during the second world war, probably to help cope with the increased demand in wartime.
And the modern day?
Faced with modern mass production the mill went into decline after the war, in common with many such businesses. During the 1970s it turned out animal feed, and ceased production for human consumption.
Restoration began in the early 1980s, aided by the trend towards healthy, organic foods produced by traditional methods, and water power replaced diesel once again. Michael and Marion Thurlow leased the mill in 1987, and carried out a great deal of work, restoring the mill to the outstanding condition it is in today. Modern visitors can tour the mill, and get a running commentary on how it works. Set in idyllic grounds, complete with hungry ducks, it’s a glimpse of the past brought to life.
What about this Roman bread?
Letheringsett uses a special kind of Norfolk-grown 100pc wholewheat flour said to date back to Roman times. Lacking additives, it is much in demand by people with dietary concerns. The flour is sold both locally and around the world.
Flour mill marks milestone
It is the last water powered flour mill to operate in Norfolk and this weekend another milestone was marked in its long and illustrious history. After more than 20 years of hard grind and a five year saga that nearly saw Letheringsett Mill close, miller, Mike Thurlow, was thrilled to finally be able open the top two floors of the 200 year old building to the public.
Video date October 7, 2007
Letheringsett Watermill, Riverside Road, is signposted on the A148 road from Holt. Telephone: 01263 713153; website www.letheringsettwatermill.co.uk
Check for the times of working demonstrations.
