Record Details

NHER Number:12495
Type of record:Building
Name:The Water Mill, Deopham Road

Summary

This 19th century watermill, which stands on the site of earlier mills, is remarkable in that it is fed not by a river or stream but by a number of natural springs. The mill is a three-storey building built of clay lump, of which few examples survive. The attached 19th-century miller's house is also three storeys high, but built of brick. The mill ceased working in the 1930s and its machinery is long gone. It has now been converted to residential use.

Images - none

Location

Grid Reference:TG 032 007
Map Sheet:TG00SW
Parish:HINGHAM, SOUTH NORFOLK, NORFOLK

Full description

Water mill 'south of town' was worked not by a stream but by springs (S1).
Information from record card (S2).

January 1977. Listed, Grade II.
Listing Description excerpt:
"Watermill and Mill House. 18th-century watermill. Plastered. Pantile roof with gabled ends. Three storeys. Three widely spaced windows with glazing bars. Doors left of centre on ground and first floors. Right hand double doors. Adjoining mill house to right (south east), early/mid-19th-century, painted brick front, black glazed pantile roof with gable ends. Two storeys. Three windows. Sashes with glazing bars. Central round-headed doorway with semi-circular fanlight and glazed door. Brick chimney stacks."
Information from (S3).
Please consult the National Heritage List for England (S3) for the current listing details.
Amended by P. Watkins (HES), 20 February 2022.

November 1978. Field Observation.
Visit by E. Rose (NAU).
Large three bay, two storey irregular timber framed building, tall, perhaps 17th century or merely a local vernacular; no dateable details visible. Attached miller's house of brick, three bays, two storeys, seems mid 19th century. No machinery remains. Ceased working in 1930s. Springs feed ford across track (probably old course of road). Pond is only 0.75m deep but never completely freezes. One sluice drove the mill, still pouring into the 6m deep pit beneath, then travelling through a tunnel to emerge two fields to the north. Two other sluices discharge into ditches east and west.
Note a well also provided for drinking water, despite springs.
Compiled by E. Rose (NAU), 30 November 1978. Information from record card (S2).
Amended by P. Watkins (HES), 20 February 2022.

A windmill is marked on the Ordnance Survey First Edition map (S4), on south side of lake. Why, if springs never failed as is claimed?
E. Rose (NAU). Information from record card (S2).
This is now recorded as NHER 65416.
Amended by P. Watkins (HES), 20 February 2022.

Newspaper cutting in file (S5).

According to newspaper article (S6) (copy in file) the mill is of clay lump for all of its three storeys and dates from 1841 to 1848. It is apparently on the site of a medieval mill mentioned in 1316.
E. Rose (NAU), 16 October 1998.

Monument Types

  • WATERMILL (Medieval to Early 20th Century - 1066 AD to 1920 AD)
  • MILL HOUSE (Post Medieval to 21st Century - 1540 AD to 2100 AD)
  • TIMBER FRAMED BUILDING (Post Medieval - 1540 AD to 1900 AD)
  • WATERMILL (Post Medieval - 1540 AD to 1900 AD)
  • WELL (Post Medieval - 1540 AD to 1900 AD)

Associated Finds - none

Protected Status

  • Listed Building

Sources and further reading

---Secondary File: Secondary File.
---Fiche: Exists.
<S1>Archive: Bolingbroke Collection.
<S2>Record Card: NAU Staff. 1974-1988. Norfolk Archaeological Index Primary Record Card.
<S3>Designation: Historic England. National Heritage List for England. List Entry 1051176.
<S4>Map: Ordnance Survey. 1885-1891. Ordnance Survey Map. Six inches to the mile. First Edition. 1:10,560. Norfolk Sheet LXXIII.SE (Surveyed 1881-1882, Published 1884).
<S5>Newspaper Article: Eastern Daily Press. 1982. Watermill conversion. 25 February.
<S6>Newspaper Article: Eastern Daily Press. 1998. Mill converted into exceptional home. 16 October.

Related records - none

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