Record Details

NHER Number:13199
Type of record:Monument
Name:Site of late 18th-century smock mill known as Cooke's Mill and later Bristow's Mill

Summary

Site of a tall smock mill built in 1795 or 1797 for Samuel Cooke (and known as Cooke's Mill). The mill is believed to have been the first to be fitted with William Cubitt's 'patent' sails. In 1848 a steam mill was added. The milling complex was sold in 1882 to the Bristow family. The smock mill burnt down in a fire in 1903 however milling continued on this site until 1971.

Images

  • A post medieval smock mill in Stalham.  © Norfolk County Council

Location

Grid Reference:TG 3762 2495
Map Sheet:TG32SE
Parish:STALHAM, NORTH NORFOLK, NORFOLK

Full description

Stump of wind mill built 1797, burnt January 1903. It was the first in the country to have patent sails.
During the Luddite riots thirteen incendiary fires were seen from the top at once. Information from NCM Bolingbroke Collection.
This was a large ten-sided smock mill on brick base. The stump no longer survives - informant.
E. Rose (NAU) 23 March 1982.

August 2009
The mill was constructed for Samuel Cooke, son of a prominent local farming family. Surviving photographs from the later 19th century show a very large smock mill with wide sails (reputedly 13 feet 10 inches). A steam plant was added in 1848. After the smock mill burnt down in 1903, the steam mill was restored and the business continued on the site, eventually ending in 1971. The former mill site is now part of a housing development, although the Mill House still stands on the Yarmouth Road. For full details see (S1).
A. Yardy (HES), 10, February 2011.

Monument Types

  • SMOCK MILL (18th Century to Early 20th Century - 1797 AD to 1903 AD)

Associated Finds - none

Protected Status - none

Sources and further reading

---Record Card: NAU Staff. 1974-1988. Norfolk Archaeological Index Primary Record Card.
---Secondary File: Secondary File.
<S1>Article in Serial: Yardy, A.. 2009. Stalham Smock Mill, the Cookes, the Cubitts. Friends of Norfolk Mills Newsletter. 25.

Related records - none

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