Boorman's Mill, Northfleet

BOORMAN'S MILL, NORTHFLEET R.H. HISCOCK, LL.B., F.S.A. About twenty-five years ago there came into my possession a series of deeds relating to the land at the southern end of Rural Vale Northfleet which included a lease containing an agreement to erect a windmill. I showed these deeds to the late John Stuart Kean, a local artist who had lived in Northfleet all his life and was interested in windmills. He produced a watercolour sketch of the mill in 1900 as he remembered it (Fig. 1). In making this drawing, he made use of the large-scale Ordnance Survey sheets of 1864/65 and 1895/97. He also collaborated with the late Mr. James Benson, also an old resident of Northfleet who remembered visiting the mill as a child in the 1880s when a Mr. Whiffin was the miller. Mr. Benson also wrote a short note on the mill in the Gravesend and Dartford Reporter (12th May, 1972) with a reproduction of Mr. Kean's watercolour. At this time no other illustration of the mill was known, but a faded sepia postcard has since come to light (not suitable for reproduction) which confirms Mr. Kean's sketch and also shows the short square chimney mentioned below. The deeds commence with a lease and counterpart dated the 15th October, 1840, and made between George Shove of Deptford, Kent, corn factor of the one part and Richard Young of Catherine Street, Russell Street, Lambeth, Surrey, Millwright of the other part whereby George Shove let to Richard Young. 'ALL THAT piece or parcel of ground situate lying and being in the Parish of Northfleet in the County of Kent containing by estimation from North to South One hundred and ten feet or thereabouts and from East to West on the North side One hundred and fifty feet or thereabouts and from East to West on the South side One hundred and sixty two feet or thereabouts abutting North on vacant ground of the said George Shove on the East on a road or right of way intended to be Fourteen feet wide leading from the high road to London [this road is now Rural Vale] South on ground of John Lockett and West on a hedge and land belonging to Mr. Roshier [a mis-spelling of 'Rosher'] and which said piece of ground is more particularly delineated and described in the ground plot thereof drawn in the margin of these 319 R.H. HISCOCK m^- . V —: Fig. 1. Boorman's Mill c. 1900 from a watercolour by the late J.S. Kean now in my possession. presents (Fig. 2) together with all ways paths passages . . . for a term of Eighty nine years from the 24th March 1840 at a rent of £10 I Us. per annum payable half yearly.' There follow the usual covenants by the tenant to pay the rent and land tax and the lease continues AND FURTHER that the said Richard Young his Executors administrators or assigns shall before the 29th September 1841 at his and their own proper costs and charges erect build and completely furnish in all respects in a good substantial and workmanlike manner and with good sound and proper materials a brick tower windmill of the diameter of Twenty-eight feet at the base thereof and of the height of Fifty feet from the ground upon the piece of land hereby demised and if at any time hereafter he shall erect and build any messuages or dwellinghouses upon the said ground hereby demised he the said Richard Young his Executors administrators or assigns shall and will build the same to contain not less than four rooms each and to front the road or right of way leading to the said ground and shall and will set back the same two feet from the footpath of the said road or right of way and shall and will build the same uniform with each other if more than one.' There follow covenants by Richard Young to keep the windmill and any houses erected in good repair and insured and to contribute 320 BOORMAN'S MILL. NORTHFLEET r, h 3 * i *..-!pi£- J&U&et i I f»i • ft Fig. 2. Plan on Lease of 15th October. 1840. 'a reasonable proportion' of keeping the right of way in repair and other covenants and provisions usual in a ground lease. These include one against 'use exercise or carrying on . . . in or upon the premises hereby demised or any part thereof any noise noisome or offensive trade or business whatsoever without the consent in writing of the said George Shove his heirs or assigns first had and obtained". Presumably, milling was not considered a 'noisy or offensive' trade. It is also interesting to note that the repairing covenant is limited to 'good and tenantable repair' with the added words 'reasonable use and wear thereof only excepted'. This was probably intended to cover the machinery. On the 16th October, 1840, Richard Young whose address was still of Catherine Street, Russell Street, Lambeth, granted a sub-term out of his lease by way of mortgage to Bennett Challands of Commercial Road, Lambeth, a licensed victualler to secure repayment of a loan of £250 and interest at 5 per cent. The parcels in the deed refer to 'the 321 R.H. HISCOCK windmill now erecting and building on the said piece of land'. On the 16th March, 1841, Richard Young borrowed a further £150. On the 13th September, 1858, Bennett Challands then of Southwell, Nottingham, sold the sub-term in the premises to Thomas Boorman of Gravesend, corn factor, for £280, Richard Young having failed to repay the loans and, from an acknowledgement for the deeds contained in the assignment, it would appear that the £280 was not sufficient to discharge Richard Young's indebtedness to Bennett Challands. In the assignment of the 13th September, 1858, it is described as 'windmill gear and machinery'. The Boormans were a well known Gravesend family and produced clockmakers and jewellers, coal merchants and a solicitor. Thomas Boorman was a substantial corn factor and first appears in the local directories carrying on business at 10 Milton Road in 1842, later in 1880 at 17 Milton Road and from 1897 at 141 Milton Road. By his will dated 19th May, 1870, Thomas Boorman 'gave and bequeathed to his two sons William Boorman and Thomas Augustus Boorman his leasehold mill with the land erections machinery fixtures and appurtenances belonging thereto or used or occupied therewith situate in the Parish of Northfleet in the County of Kent and then used or occupied by his two sons. . . .'He appointed his son, Charles Spencer Boorman, as well as his sons William and Thomas to be his executors. Thomas Boorman died on the 23rd November, 1874, and his will was proved on the 16th January, 1875. Thomas Augustus Boorman died on the 21st December, 1903, having by his will dated the 26th May, 1885, left everything to his brother William Boorman who proved the will on the 3rd March, 1904. On the 29th September, 1905, William Boorman then described as a 'Retired Miller' bought the freehold from Elizabeth Augusta Turner of 1 Bathurst Street, Hyde Park Gardens, for £255. Elizabeth Augusta Turner was one of eleven children of Elizabeth Ann Shove, daughter of George Shove who had granted the lease in 1840. On the 20th February, 1906, William Boorman sold the land with the windmill and engine and boiler-houses (see below) to Walter Job Eke of 65 The Terrace, Gravesend, for £363 and, on the same date, he mortgaged the same to Alfred Tolhurst, a Gravesend solicitor to secure the repayment of a loan of £363, the full amount of the purchase price. This was followed by a further loan of £97 on the 1st June, 1907. There is with the papers a notice dated the 12th May, 1908, to repay the loan and a letter from Walter Job Eke authorising a sale by a local firm of estate agents 'at any price which will be sufficient to pay principle interest and expenses'. The property is here referred to as 'The old Mill Rural Vale' and the same being 'in hand'. 322 BOORMAN'S MILL, NORTHFLEET It would appear from this that Mr. Eke's purchase had not been a success. No sale took place but, at some time after 1908, Alfred Tolhurst let the mill and the surrounding land to Thomas Ashenden of 30 Rural Vale. He apparently carried on some milling with the auxiliary engine and in addition had a horse and cart and sold vegetables. He also had a small forge and worked as a blacksmith and shoed his own horse. He joined the army in the First World War and it was then that the mill finally ceased work. His widow is still alive, aged 92, and lives at 32 Rural Vale with her daughter and son-in-law.1 The mill was pulled down in 1916 at which time the sails were in position. According to Coles Finch,2 the windmill ceased regular work about 1894 and this is confirmed by Mr. Benson,3 but it would seem that milling continued after this date with the auxiliary engine. The site was afterwards used for allotments and finally sold for building shortly after the Second World War. According to Coles Finch,2 it was a five-storeyed mill with a stage about 30 ft. from the ground. It worked three pairs of stones, two for wheat and one for barley. The mill appears in the local directory in 1851 as 'T. Boorman, Miller'. In 1869 as 'W. & T.A. Boorman, Northfleet'. The last appearance in the local directory is in 1906. The Gravesend and Dartford Reporter for 5th February, 1887, contains a report of the adjoining cliff-face giving way. Quarrying for chalk had gradually approached the site of the mill, the face being about 80 ft. deep. Apparently, severe frosts caused the chalk cliff to give way. From the report in the paper it appears that about 70 ft. of the rear wall of the stores fell down the cliff. When the workmen arrived for work at 6 a.m., they had difficulty in opening the door and noticed the floor was gradually sinking on one side and with the strain the window panes cracked one after another 'the report resembling a pistol shot'. Shortly after 11 o'clock, a large part of the building fell with a crash completely hiding from view the tunnel which at this point passed under the cliffs. When the stores were rebuilt an engine-house with square chimney was added south of the mill to provide auxiliary power and the mill was known as the Northfleet Wind and Steam Flour Mill although its popular name was Boorman's Mill. The old stores to the east of the mill appear on the 1864/5 Ordnance Survey sheet. The 1897 sheet shows the cliff-face encroachment and the new engine house. ' Information from Mr. J.W. Loveridge, son-in-law of Mr. Thomas Ashenden. 2 William Coles Finch, Watermills and Windmills, 1933, 252. 3 Gravesend and Dartford Reporter. 12th May 1972. 323 R.H. HISCOCK My thanks to Mr. P. Willis and the Gravesend Library for access to their files of the Gravesend and Dartford Reporter and their collection of local directories. Also to help in the past from Mr. J.S. Kean and Mr. J. Benson. 324