Forgotton Windmill
This site at Alwalton hosted a watermill as far back as the eleventh century because it was mentioned in the Doomsday book along with more than 5,000 other watermills across the UK. Water power was being exploited well before the first windmills appeared more than 100 years later.
By 1128, three mills were reported on the site and this was still the case in 1649 when they were known as “The Town Mills”. The three mills were almost certainly on the same site, in the same building and all harnessing the same power source. At this time, two of the mills were believed to be traditional corn mills taking local corn and producing flour, the other being a fulling mill which used intriguing devices to clean and process wool based product.
The first nineteenth century census in 1841 showed the mill in the hands of Lincolnshire born “master miller” Chapman March who by 1845 carried the title of “miller and bonecrusher” ….. the latter in reference to the fact that one of the mills was now a bone mill which converted animal bones into fertilizer.
A newspaper report in 1850 announced that the mill had been leased to Chapman March for a further 21 years by the Dean & Chapter of Peterborough for the princely rent of just 20 shillings per annum !
The mill was thriving in 1851 with March now employing four men but his reign as master miller ended prematurely in 1857 when he died at the young age of 45. By November 1857, the mill was being offered for sale by the deceased’s brother Henry March, the sale particulars offering “corn and bone mills plus grounds and buildings over five acres”.
No buyers were forthcoming with the majority no doubt put off by the feared impact on local milling of the arrival of the railways and the repeal of the long standing Corn Laws in 1851 which had previously favoured local landowners and allowed them to dictate market prices. Now the market was open to bulk imports by river and rail which in turn dramatically slashed the profitability of corn mills in particular.
With no buyers in sight, the mill was auctioned to the highest bidder at Peterborough’s White Lion Inn in February 1858. The auction catalogue offered “bone & coal yards adjoining the river, dwelling house, gig house, stables, walled crew yards, other outbuildings, large garden, 5 acres of pasture land. Mills include five pairs of stones (four french, one gray) fitted with valuable dressing machines – nearly new – by Varley & Sedgewick of Leeds and other machinery of superior character and in good condition“.
Forgotton Windmill
This site at Alwalton hosted a watermill as far back as the eleventh century because it was mentioned in the Doomsday book along with more than 5,000 other watermills across the UK. Water power was being exploited well before the first windmills appeared more than 100 years later.
By 1128, three mills were reported on the site and this was still the case in 1649 when they were known as “The Town Mills”. The three mills were almost certainly on the same site, in the same building and all harnessing the same power source. At this time, two of the mills were believed to be traditional corn mills taking local corn and producing flour, the other being a fulling mill which used intriguing devices to clean and process wool based product.
The first nineteenth century census in 1841 showed the mill in the hands of Lincolnshire born “master miller” Chapman March who by 1845 carried the title of “miller and bonecrusher” ….. the latter in reference to the fact that one of the mills was now a bone mill which converted animal bones into fertilizer.
A newspaper report in 1850 announced that the mill had been leased to Chapman March for a further 21 years by the Dean & Chapter of Peterborough for the princely rent of just 20 shillings per annum !
The mill was thriving in 1851 with March now employing four men but his reign as master miller ended prematurely in 1857 when he died at the young age of 45. By November 1857, the mill was being offered for sale by the deceased’s brother Henry March, the sale particulars offering “corn and bone mills plus grounds and buildings over five acres”.
No buyers were forthcoming with the majority no doubt put off by the feared impact on local milling of the arrival of the railways and the repeal of the long standing Corn Laws in 1851 which had previously favoured local landowners and allowed them to dictate market prices. Now the market was open to bulk imports by river and rail which in turn dramatically slashed the profitability of corn mills in particular.
With no buyers in sight, the mill was auctioned to the highest bidder at Peterborough’s White Lion Inn in February 1858. The auction catalogue offered “bone & coal yards adjoining the river, dwelling house, gig house, stables, walled crew yards, other outbuildings, large garden, 5 acres of pasture land. Mills include five pairs of stones (four french, one gray) fitted with valuable dressing machines – nearly new – by Varley & Sedgewick of Leeds and other machinery of superior character and in good condition“.