The Len Water-mills

lNTRODUOTION THE LEN WATER-MILLS By R. J. SPAIN Tms study is but a sum total of existing knowledge available at the time of composition. Nearly all the material involved is culled from local public and private MS. collections and printed sources. Consequently this history of the Valley Mills is predominantly concerned with the last four centuries. Nevertheless, this shortcoming is well balanced by the richness of the period. In these centuries the total number of water-mills reached a maximum as did the number of water-mills devoted to fulling and papermaking. In Arch. Gant., lxxi, Robert Goodsall wrote a most interesting paper on this same subject entitled 'Watermills on the River Len'. Since then a considerable number of documents related to the mills has been deposited in the Kent Archives Office, the most important of these being the Leeds Castle Estate muniments. Added to these accessions are extracts from local history books, descriptions of the remaining mills and knowledge contributed by various people acquainted with the mills. F AIBBOURNE MILL In the light of our present knowledge it seems very likely that there was a mill at Fairbourne when the Domesday Survey was undertaken. However, in fact, our first reference is dated 1580. It is to be found in a 'Book of Quit Rents of Several Manors in Kent belonging to Galfridon Mann Esq.' dated 1750.1 The handwritten entries nearly all date from an original of 1579-80 including the rents for two manors then existing in Harrietsham, East Farbourne and Holmill. Rents for East Farbourne include: 'One year's rent of a messuage a tenement a Barn a Garden a Watermill a Pond or Pool and 4 pieces of land containing by estimation 20 acres of land whereof one piece is called Millandes and one other piece is called Beggershill late of Edwar:a. Chamber, William Chamber and Nicholas Chamber lying and being in Harrietsham.' Beside this account is the rent of nine hens. Further on a few pages an identical set of entries for the manor dated the same year are 1 Kent Archives Office U24 M23. 32 l CHURCH 759 555 2. LITTLE CHURCH 760S55 3.PA0SOLE 764S56 4.CHRtSTIANS 768 557 S.TURKEY 772556 6.POLL 774 553 l OTHAM PAPER 78 7S46 8.0THAM CORN 791 S46 Cl THE COMB 8025S2 IQTHURNHAM 802 S47 THE LEN WATER MILLS WITH 0.5. MAP REFERENCES 11.BALLARDS 804 547 i2.FULL ING 8 1 2 5 4 0 13.QLD 820541 14.LE NETHERTOUNE 823534 15.ABB.EY 823531 16.PRIORY 823530 17. PARK 832 542 18.GROVE 83S 545 19.EYHORNE CORN 835 546 20. HOLLINGBOURNE M ANOR 843 S52 Fro. 1. i. o7°'\j .,.,,... ..... , __ ...;o.. ., ..,..,.... -- .,/'1 ,::.,r r·-.. '-....... .................. )··􀀄:i I ·•, " 21.-KEEPERS COTTAGE 831 536 􀁥2.THE MILE 834536 23. LE MILLE 834􀀴32 24.CASTLE 835S32 25. CHEGWORTH 850527 26.HOLME 860529 27. POLLHILL 861523 28. FAI RBOURNE 865S18 29. ALDINGTON 812 S73 \ THE LEN WATER-MILLS written. Without exception all the rents are commuted to money. For Fairbourne Mill two pence were paid instead of nine hens. In a list of mills dated 1608 owned by James 12 occurs: 'Watermill, Fulborne, demised to Thomas Cakebread £2. 13. 4.' This may refer to Fairbourne Mill, but some doubt exists. Much of the royal milling property was disposed of shortly after this list was made and the mill at Fairbourne may have been included. Certainly no further evidence of royal ownership is known. A rent roll of the Manor of Harrietsham 1694 in the possession of Robert Goodsall mentions the occupier of Fairbourne Mill: 'Edward Hickmut (script damaged) Mills.' The mill appeared on various maps throughout the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, with one of the first being of 1728.8 An interesting reference in the Archives to Fairbourne Mill is to be found in a collection of documents concerning the Manor and Lordship and Castle of Leeds, variously dated. 4 One of these documents, a deed dated 1768 includes: ' ... and also all that one messuage or tenement with the millhouse whereon a, Water Corn Mill had formerly stood ... in the parish of Ulcombe and were heretofore part of the inheritance of Joseph Hatch long since deceased and now in the occupation of Thos. late Lord Culpeper and Thomas Stiles.' The property mentioned was part of 'Lordship of Farbone alias West Farbone together with all those two Water Corn Mills under one roof'. The parties in the transfer were Francis Martin, widow, daughter of Right Honourable Catherine Lady Fairfax, and the Rev. Denny Martin of Leeds. How old wa s the former corn mill1 We have no way of telling. The existing mill of this period had two pairs of stones. Apparently, even as late as mid-eighteenth century, to have these under one roof is noteworthy. We are very lucky in having detailed information of the mill during the late eighteenth century in the form of two old mill ledgers. They were found by Mr. L. V. and Mr. T.V. Clark in 1929 when sorting the effects of the late Thomas Clark, 1838-1929, miller of Fairbourne and Corn Merchant. Later the ledgers were donated to Swadela.nds Secondary Modern School, Lenham, to form pa.rt of the School Museum. Mr. Turner, the headmaster, very kindly allowed me to examine then:>. at length. 2 British :Museum, Lanadowne MSB. 3 0ood8aU MSB. Survey of the Estates of William Horsmonden Turner by Alexander Bottle, 1728. 4 KAO U23Tll, 34 THE LEN WATER-MILLS Both ledgers have Purchase and Sales sections. The earliest is dated from 30th September, 1751 to 10th October, 1760 and the second from 1st January, 1782 to 9th December, 1784. An examination of both periods show that the mill work was nearly all with wheat, varying at times from 60 to 95 per cent of the total output by weight. The throughput of barley and oats was very similar, in the early ledger comprising together perhaps 5 per cent of the mill output, in the latter book nearer 40 per cent-perhaps witness of the growing practice of milled animal feedstuffs . .A. negligible amount of peas and beans were ground also. All products of the mill were purchased in gallons, pecks, bushels, sacks o r quarters and the amount, buyer and price carefully tabulated, day after day. No sabbath entries are found. Assuming a working day of approximately ten hours, the average hourly output was close to ninety pounds. This from two pairs of stones, one for fine grinding (wheat) and the other the hog corn or barley stone, is comparable to modern outputs. Milling terminology appears to have changed little. The various stages of refinement and their relative weights as proportions of the whole wheat output are: Early Ledger Later Ledger Approx. % of whole 'wheat ground' (i.e. first flour) 'wheat ground' 65 'Md' (middlings) 'coarse flour' '2d' (seconds 01· 'wheat ground and dressed' secondary flour) 'meal' 30 'Hd•' (headers from the sieve?) 'pollard' 'pollard' 'hogcorn' 10 'bran' 'bran' 6 The later ledger shows a distinct increase in the number of refinements and prices available to buyers. Much interesting information could be gained from the two books, regarding prices, change in demand throughout the year, distribution of sellers and buyers, etc.; but remains outside the requirements of this study. In 18475 and approximately 18556 a William Hudson was the miller and farmer at Fairbourne Mill. Sometime soon after 1861 Thomas Clark moved in and was miller for some while. Although 6 S. Bagshaw, History, Gazetteer and Directory of the Oount,y of I{ent 1847 6 Post Ojflce, DirectoriJ of the Six Home Oounties, approx. 1856-61. ' 35 THE LEN WATER-MILLS Kelly's Directory of 1895 shows a Horace Hooke Clarke as miller of Fairbourne this is not correct for Mr. L. J. Clark informed me that his grand.father Thomas Clark remained at the mill until his death in 1929. Much of the mill machinery was removed in 1908 when milling ceased, although the water-wheel remained to operate a turbine that was installed. The existing mill building is red brick with weatherboard, a.s so many were in Kent. By some good fortune I was able to talk to a Mr. Gravel who used to work in the mill many years before the First World War. ].\fr. Gravel confirmed that Fa.irbourne had two stones, one a flour stone and the other for coarse grinding, though both could not be used at once. In those days the mill produced only two refinements, middlings and bran, sometimes taken together by customers for malting wholemeal breathmY&i-J ___ '\':)i!i ____ fil!l .• J•i.:@ C'·'r'J·'· J,.,. -- ___ el/it'___ ll'fil !i!l} ,,,,--" I \ TUNNEL. I 􀀃 ) \ J ' "' "' /,.􀀋';Si•, -- 􀀆- SARBICAN WALL I 7 I WATERWHEEL I 1.---J ...􀀆). ••'J • LEEDS CASTLE MILL Fxa. 6. ao R. Kilburne, .4 'l!opogr. tT AmLI L..APRONWHEEL PIT 0 COG PIT WATERCHANNEL SECTION AA RAISED AREA OLD MACHINE BED Fm.8. SECTION SS SCALE 􀁼 6FT TtfE REMAJNS OF OTHAM PAPER fdlLl. SURVEYED IN 1966 SY RJ.SPAIN & A.G.SPAIN BY KIND PERMISSION OF RJOHNSTON THE LEN WATER-MILLS To one side of the site is an original room much higher than the remainder of the mill. Bricked-in arches in one wall beneath its floor level indicate a much lower floor now blocked off. Throughout the ruins are innumerable water channels running amid and beneath the stone floors, many of which have yet to be traced. The mill water apparently passes beneath ground in the mill and comes to view some distance away. There is little ·doubt that these ruins are unique and we are very lucky that Mr. Johnston owns the site, for he is slowly uncovering and maintaining the ruins. At a later date, when the complex of foundations and waterways are recovered it may be possible to reconstruct the working of this early nineteenth-century paper mill. POLllJ Mn,L In Kent Archives there are four documents concerning Mote Mill the original name of Pole Mill.189 The oldest, dated llth April, 1518, is a Lease for 30 years from 25th March, 1518, for the rent of 3 Ii 13s. 4d. p.a. for the first 10 years and 3 li 6s. 8d. p.a. for the la,st 20 years. The lease was from Hugh W aram of the manor of Halyng, Croyden, Surrey, gent., to John Alphne of Maidstone, shearman and the property concerned, Mote Mill with a close on west side and close and pond on north side, in Maidstone. The conditions were that Hugh Waram would provide in the first year: necessary timber for repairs, two gudgeons, two 'peoes callyd Brass', and four 'hopis that longythe to the throwe beme of the same mill'; warrants John Alphne's right to use of the common water• course to the mill; reserves right to distrain goods of John Alphne on non-payment of rent and to repossess if the goods are insufficient; John Alphne will undertake all necessary repairs; will pay all charges against the King and the lord of the fee, and will be bound in 20 Ii to observe conditions. The 'throwe beme' suggests fulling stocks. In the second document, a le􀃝se dated 18th April, 1534/5, for 20 years from Michaehnas 1534 at a rent of20s. p.a., between William Warham of Malshanger, Hamp· shire and John Stenett of Maidstone, bladesmith, the property included a. 'Newe mylle stedyll'140 belonging to the manor of :Mote with a house built thereon, lands, two ponds, watercourse to and from the mill; rea,sonable uae of the lane on the west side of the land called Little Hyefeld (belonging to the manor of Mote) and to cross north end of Little Hyefeld between the land and the mill (all in Maidstone). 139 KAO U593 Tl6. ito English Dialeot Dictionary, by Joseph Wright (1900); Steddle, Steddling, Staddle-Obs. A wooden building standing upon legs or supports to raise it out of the mud. To support, make steady. Bedateddle ••. 80 THE LEN WATER-MILLS The conditions included that William War ham will allow John Stenett sufficient timber for necessary repairs, to be taken from the wood belonging to the manor of Mote and to be felled and carried at John Stenett's own cost; John Stenett will build a grindstone mill at own cost; will keep in repair mill stedyll, house, watercourse and wheels; has right to dig clay or loam from the loampit in Little Hyefeld, for necessary repairs. This second document suggests ·that some improvement had been made to part or whole of the old mill. That a grindstone mill had to be set up separately inferred they were living above fulling stocks. This mill may have had two wheels each fed from a separate pond, one powering hinged stocks for 'scouring' ( cleaning the cloth of superfluous oil and grease] and the other vertical stampers, generally called falling stocks, for 'milling' the cloth [to promote felting and shrinking] as was the normal arrangement in early fulling mills. The third document dated 16th March, 1536/7, is particularly interesting. It is an agreement from Thomas Hartrege of Maidstone, tailor, to William Tylden of Maidstone, draper, for 'Two mills called mote mille and the nue mille with islands ponds an.d streams; and the profits of two o-vershot mills William Tylden will build in the stream.' The conditions included that William Tylden would occupy the premises until Thomas Hartrege had paid 34 li and the costs of building the new mills and necessary repairs to the old ones and will hand over all leases of the mills to Thomas Hartrege on repossession. This document suggests that the old mill did have two wheels and processes which were supplemented with two new overshot 'mills' which were to be built. It is most probable that these new wheels were placed in 'parallel' with the existing, and not in series, i.e. arranged so that they did not receive water from another wheel. The final document of the set dated 30th May, 1538, is a lease for 40 years from Michaelmas 1537 for the rent of 12 li 2s. 8d. p.a., from William Tylden of Maidstone, draper, to William Bassok of Maidstone, fuller, and John Bassok of Otham, miller. The description of the property includes: 'Messuage and two water mills under one roof, called the motmyllys; watercourse descending from Mote Place to the mills; three ponds on the North East side of the river between the mills and megynfordbrege, right to "reasonable and necessarie pendyng" of the water and ponds; a close of meadowland on the West side of mills and another, called Taynterfield, on North side; new mill stedyll sometime belonging to the manor of mote, with a, house built on it, and four little tofts or islands on West side of stedyll; reasonable use of the way between Maidstone and the mill over little Highfeld.' 81 THE_ LEN.WATER-MILLS Conditions included that William Tylden convena.nts to repair buildings and machinery and to scour and cleanse meadows, watercourses and ditches. William and John Bassok to preserve the closures and to avoid damage to property of William Warham's tenants beside the way over Little Highfeld, and in the six acres of meadow between the mills and the stone bridge called Ricebryge; to be responsible for the 'Furryng, Sharpyng, Copsyng, Solyng knees, Daggshoos, Swyppys, Swyppepynnys and Cheynys'; and to repair any damage done; and to have the right to take fulling earth from any part of the property, for the use of the mill. According to the deed, beside the mill was a tenter field where the fulled cloths were stretched on tenter hooks to dry in the wind and sun. The mill site was specified as being between Madginford bridge and Ryce bridge. Ryce bridge was probably close by the mill-perhaps marked by the site of Pole Mill according to the First Edition Ordnance Survey where two roads, one either side of the Len, approach each other very closely. The word swyppys appears to be a derivation of 'swipes' or 'sweeps', which has a strong connection with beating. The English Dialect Dictionary141 gives one meaning of Dag(g) as to damp. Also Chambers' says, Swipian is Old English for, 'to beat'. During the next few years the mill changed name-perhaps a new one was built on the same site or very close by, for in a single deed dated 10th May, 1549, wherein Lord Cobham bought from the Crown the site of Maidstone College and its domain lands, 142 there is included: 'six acres of land near Poll mill, in Maidstone'. Improvement to the old mill may have gone hand-in-hand with a new name. In another deed dated 1638143 it remains as Poll Mill. The parties concerned are, Sir John Astley of Maidstone and Sir Norton Knatchbull with the object of their interest: 'that fulling mill commonly called Pollmill together with the mill house, millpond, orchard garden ... now or late in the tenure or occupation of William Hardynge and Thomas Spa ... '. The three mill-ponds of a century previous have now become a single pond, no doubt encompassing the three with a shape approaching the existing lake. In 1664 Sir Norton Knatchbu.ll, M.P., sold Poll Mill to Sir John Banks. It was then still a fulling mill and under lease to a widow Giles for £28 per annum. When Sir John Banks died in 1699 ownership passed to his daughter, wife of Heneage Finch, later Earl of Aylesford. 141 Idem. u􀀤 History of The OoUege oJ Ali Saints, Maidatcme. us KAO U234 T21. 82 THE LEN WATER-MILLS From 1708 the mill was let to John Swinnock. In 1718 Lord Aylesford paid him £300 to build- 'a good and substantial paper mill, with six troughs, a good and sufficient pond or mill pond with floodgate etc.'144 However, shortly after these improvements were effected the Earl died. In 1727 Swinnock, papermaker, became bankrupt.146 Apparently the transition from fuller to papermaker was not easy. William Gill succeeded him and he too became bankrupt four years later in 1731. From 1731 until 1756 the brothers William and Joseph Cordwell took possession;146 in a 1748 rental for the Aylesford Estates is an entry 'Joseph Cordwell for a paper mill ea.Id Poll Mill £75';146a then Abraham Fearon held it until 1760/61 when he sold the lease to Clement Taylor for £400. The property included one paper mill, two cottages, one rag house, and one wagon lodge. Clement Taylor died in 1776 and his son James continued at Pole Mill-after 1777 on a yearly tenancy.147 In June, 1785, James Whatman obtained: 'all that Messuage or Tenement and Mill called Poll Mill, formerly a fulling mill, and for some years past converted to a Paper mill, with the several wheels, Engines, Implements, and Utensils thereto belonging ... '148 Apparently at this time the mill had two vats. Sometime before 1793 Whatman decided to sell his three mills. The transfer took some time but not until 1795 does the Boxley Land Tax Assessments show that Pole Mill ownership had been transferred to Thomas Robert and Finch Hollingworth and William Balston. They worked the mill until the dissolution of their partnership in 1805 when the Hollingworths continued. On the first series I-in. Ordnance Survey the mill appears as 'Pole Mills'. In Pigot's Directory of 1824, under paper manufacturers, appears Hollingworth Finch and Thomas attributed with Pole Mill among others. Under paper mould makers there is Amouse, John of Pole Mill. In the Maidstone Poll Book in the 1835 and 1838 elections, occur the names, Joseph Rufus Winter, tailor, and William Winter, bleacher, and their residence, Pole Mill, Boxley. No mention of the mill is made in later election lists. 10 KAO Aylesford MSS. uo London Gazette, 26th Sept., 1727. ue Boxley Rate Book, Nov., 1731. SFIP 68183, 25th Sept., 1735. SFIP 68686, 3rd Nov., 1735. 146• KAO U234 Al4. 1'7 Whatmo.n Archives. 148 Thomas Baisten, James Whatnum, Father and Son. 83 THE LEN WATER-MILLS Shortly after this the mill was pulled down and the site flooded when Mote Park lake was enlarged a little later. Now the looal sailing club course above the old mill-ponds. TUR:ir:mYMILL It is not surprising that Turkey Mill, prior to its well-known papermaking life, was a fulling mill, for in the very grounds of the mill itself-as elsewhere in Boxley parish-were valuable veins of fuller's earth. The earliest known reference to this mill occurs in a deed of June, 1629, in which Turkey Mill is described as: 'One dwelling house with the fulling mill thereunto adioyneinge known by the name of Powle Mill with one barn one stable one yard one garden one orchard one Mill pond one Osier bedd with the appurtences.'149 Our next reference occurs in the Maidstone Records dated 1637150 and reads: 'From the upper end of the south side of East Lane to Powells mill and Mi's. Nynnes house.' Three years later it is known by another name, for a deed dated 1640161 between Symon Smythe of Tenterden and John Fletcher of East Farleigh includes: ' . .. water myll commonly called the Overloppe Mill .. . now in the tenure or occupation of Thos. Tolherst.' It was sold with 10 acres of land for £493. Ten years later the name is back to its original form, for in a description of Maidstone Manor of 1650 occurs :162 'two pieces of meadowe abutting to land late Withinbrook West to John Richardson and Richard Fletcher North to a way to Powle Mill East to Moate lane South.' In 1650 Thomas Tolherst at Overloppe was granted a fresh lease for 21 years, however, he died before it expired. Upon his death the tenure passed to his widow, Joane, and son Thomas.163 In this same year, John Fletcher conveyed the freehold to John Cripps on his marriage to Fletcher's daughter. The mill was described as a fulling mill, with a barn, one stable and a mill-pond, etc., in all 15 aores. uo Stede Hill muniments. lGO Burghmote Book 8. 101 KAO U289 T32. lll􀁇 Clement Taylor Smythe, i. m KAO U289 T82/8I. Deed dated 9th Sept., 1657. 84 THE LEN WATER-MILLS Sometime between the end of this lease in 1671 and 1693 this fulling mill was converted to paper-making for it was mortgaged in the latter year as a paper mill. The wooden hammers or stampers hitherto employed on damp cloths, now macerated rags, ropes, sails and other sources of vegetable fibre in preparation for making into paper. It seems likely that the first papermaker tenant was George Gill of Boxley; he certainly was associated with the mill in 1693, and in 1695 it was leased to him at Christmas for 41 years by Dorothy Cripps, widow, John and Nicholas Cripps. However, conversion may have taken place154 earlier, for Gill's name first appears in Boxley Parish Register in 1680. Russell, writing in 1881,165 says that in 1719 there were two paper mills on the Len: 'They had previously been fulling mills, and were adapted to the requirements of the new manufacture by George Gill. At one white paper was made, at the other brown wrapping paper, the river at the former turning three overshot wheels.' This is Turkey Mill and the description comes from John Harris when he visited the mill in 1719.166 He writes: 'Here (the Len) it turns three overshot wheels; of about 8 ft. diameter, which moves the whole work; the Water Boards are about two Feet and a half long, and the trough delivers a Stream of Water of Six Inches Deep. 'Tia a very large work, and they could easily make much greater quantities of Paper, if there were demands accordingly. The Rags they use they have mostly from straggling Persons, which bring them to the Mill; And some they have from London. The Brown and White Brown Paper which they make here is chiefly from old Ropes, Sails etc., and . .. fine Rags . .. to make White Paper.' Harris does not mention the two distinct mills that Russell relates, but instead describes three overshot wheels as powering the entire mill. Hasted in 1798 says167 'they were formerly used as fulling mills'meaning the wheels and their cogs, but it is doubtful that this was so. Probably two of the wheels were added at the conversion. To have three overshot waterwheels in such close proximity is remarkable, but upon closer examination a simple explanation is forthcoming. Their size was the minimum that efficiency and the physical site would allow; the stream in the mill grounds could not have allowed successive overshot wheels--only simultaneous.-the water being divided into thirds to serve ea.eh. Thus over three aprons 2 ft. 6 in. wide and 6 in. deep. m KAO U289 T32. m J. Iv!. Russell, History of Maid8tone (1881). 106 Op cit., i, 191. 167 Op cit., iv, 329. 85 THE LEN WATER-MILLS Each wheel very probably powered a set of stampers-heavy wooden mallets-via cogs and a 'cam shaft' which macerated the rags, etc., in water-fed cavities. Turkey Mill was well sited, for: 'Mr. Gill ... brought into his work a Collection of fine clear Water from two of three Springs, which rise in a field adjoining to the Mill.'168• The duration of Mr. Gill's tenancy is not known, however, by 1716 he passed the remainder of his lease to his son William who insured the mill.159 William's venture was not a success for he was declared bankrupt in 1729. His association with Turkey ceased in 1731 when his name last appears in the Boxley Rate Book, and his estate, including a large paper mill, was advertised for sale.160 In 1732 the name William Cordwell is related to 'Gill's Mill' in the Boxley Rate Book. His name disappears after 1734. The next occupier was Richard Harris, papermaker of Hollingbourne, who must have been there sometime earlier than 1736 when he insured the stock in the mill.161 In 1738 he bought old Turkey Mill and proceeded to pull it down and to re-erect it. Before he completed the task, Harris died. His will dated 22nd August, 1739, includes: ' ... all that now built messuage or tenement wherein I now dwell and the building intended for a paper mill at or near the place where the old mill was which was called Turkey Mill.' During 1740 Ann Harris married James Whatman and they went to live at Turkey Court. The improvements to the mill continued; the old pestle and mortars were no doubt displaced by the new Hollanders. By the time of Whatman's death in 1759 considerable improvements in output had been affected for there is strong evidence that the paper mill had become the largest in the country. For the next three years Ann Whatman controlled the mill, then James Whatman ll took over in accordance with his father's wishes. A deed of exchange for the transfer of a willow bed from Lord Romney to Mr. Whatman dated 17th September, 1770, includes: 'All that piece or parcel of land or Ozier ground formerly a meadow containing by estimation one acre .. . situate ·lying and being in the parish of Maidstone aforesaid at or near a certain fulling mill heretofore called Powells mill and since Tolhersts and now a paper mill formerly in the occupation of Joseph Cordwell and now of Clement Taylor.'161 1G8 John Harris. u9 SFIP 7379, 29th Oct., 1716. 160 I<.entish Post and Oan.terbury News Letter, 8th March, 1731. 1a1 KAO U289 T29. 86 THE LEN WATER-MILLS In evidence of Whatman's enterprise it is significant that he invited John Rennie-who was engaged to convert the Albion flour mills in London to primarily a cast-iron construction-to Turkey Mill.162 Rennie's report of October, 1787, unfortunately has not survived; it would have made a singular contribution to our knowledge of the mill's machinery prior to steam conversion. In later correspondence, however, an entry, 'To altering a Pit wheel pattern' tells us that water-power was still employed on the site. Whatman sold his three paper mills, Turkey, Poll and Loose and retired in 1793. The new possessors were Finch and Thomas Robert Hollin􀃌yorth. The first machine was put into Turkey in 1846 coincident with the employment of steam-power. In 1848 the vats were abandoned, and a second machine added ten years later. The third machine was taken from Otham Paper Mill. The last of the two Hollingworth brothers, Thomas Robert, died in 1824 and Turkey Mill passed to his sons Thomas and John. In 1889 it devolved to their nieces Mrs. F. E. Pitt and Lady George GordonLennox jointly. Wat.er-power was last employed at this mill approximately 1909. Hollingworth (Turkey Mill) Ltd., still produces first-class papers under the control of Major William Pitt. 0mtISTIAN'S Mn..L The known history of this mill can begin conveniently with the earliest date associated with it. An inscription on the building now occupying the site says 'Fulling Mill House 1567'. We can only assume that this was the date of its erection. No traces of the original building or its watercourses remain, for I can remember as a child playing amid the steep wooded slopes there. Only the winding stream remainsin fact very little could ever have been there, for the site can only have offered a rather low head of water-certainly not an overshot wheel. Our next reference to this mill occurs in a covenant to a lease for Turkey Mill dated Christmas 1695.163 ' ... that if it shall or doe happen that the owners or occupiers of the Corn Mill next below the aforesaid paper mill towards Maidstone ... stopp or over penn the water in the Mill Stream . .. and to raise the same to an unlawful height .. .' The 'Corn Mill next below' Turkey Mill is Christian's Mill which had obviously been converted from fulling to corn milling by this date. Further evidence of this conversion is supplied by a deed dated the 162 James Whatman, Father and Son. 163 KAO U289 T32. 87 THE LEN WATER-MILLS 9th year of Queen Anne's reign, i.e. 1711.164 The parties concerned being John Savage the Elder of Boughton Monchelsea and Anne his wife of the first part, Thomas Porter of Sussex and Frances his wife of the second part and William Pertis of Maidstone, miller, of the third part. It continues: ' ... demised to William Pertis all that one messuage or tenement and Mills ... called Christian Mills ... heretofore in the occupation of John Lamb miller and late in the occupation of George Overy or of his assignes ... ' It seems likely that the conversion took place sometime in the latter half of the seventeenth century, for graph CML shows a. considerable number of fullers during the middle of the century. Unfortunately, the licences do not include the name of the two millers mentioned above, however, a George Lamb of Maidstone described as a miiner married in 1589.165 John Lamb may have been a relation. From the word 'Mills' apparently at least two pairs of millstones were in use. A further deed of 1716166 confirms that William Pertis was still in occupation; another of 1718 is a lease to a John Savage. In 1719 Pertis sold the mill to William Gill brewer, who in the next year on 19th July mortgaged it to Edward Faulkner, watchmaker. Sometime before 1735 the mill was demolished by William Gill and six tenements 'commonly called by the name of The Square' were erected, for in that year he was declared bankrupt and his equities passed to his creditor James Brooke. Why he removed Christian's Mill is not known, but perhaps he hoped the six houses a more successful venture. PADSOLE MILL The origin of the word Pad.sole is indication of the earliest site. Sole (soal)-a pond, or pool of water. Lewis says1 &7 'A dirty pond of standing water', and this it probably was in its original signification being derived from Anglo-Saxon sol, mud, mire. Until the reign of Henry VIlI this mill was one of two in Maidstone belonging to Christ Church, Canterbury. All early references to the mill take the form of leases made by various Archbishops of Canterbury. The earliest known lease related to this mill, for 21 years, was granted the 18th year of Richard II (1395) by Archbishop Courtenay to William Walbelton and Richard Haute.168 184 KAO U289 T33. 10􀂂 Oanterbury Marriage Licences, i, col. 256. 100 KAO U289 T32. 187. John Lewis, History and Antiquitiee, a8 well Ecclesiaetical ae Oivil, of the leZe g- Tenet (Thanet) in Kent, 2nd edition, London, 1736. 1 Cathedral Libmry, S.f. 20, 88 THE LEN WATER-MILLS Two references to Padsole Mill may be found in the Calendar of the Demesne Leases made by Archbishop Warham, 1503-32.169 The first reads in English: '10 October 1518. Lease to Peter Sawnderson of Maidstone, fuller, of a mill called Padesoldmyll in the parish of Maidstone, as William Elvet used to have it, for 20 years at £5.6.8. p.a. The Archbishop's officers shall have the right to enter the mill to see if repairs are necessary, and repairs are to be done within a month of notice given to do them. '170 '10 January 1525. Lease to Walter Herenden of Maidstone, gentleman, of the fulling-mill of Padsolemyll Maidstone, with all the houses, mill-dams and ditches, for 4 years at £5.6.8. The farmer shall be allowed to build a corn mill to grynd corne withall within the roffe of the seid myll house or without, next adioynying to to the same house, so as the seid fulling myll and cornemyll may be inclosed, annexed and adioyned together upon the seid water, provided it does not harm the annual farm of the other corn mill the lord has in the town. '171 The suggested addition of a corn mill is interesting. If the farmer's roof could take the weight of a pair of millstones and gear-well over a ton with feeding bins and grain-it must surely have been cheaper than to make a new trundle head and mountings under a new extension. Very little harm would be done to the other mill in the town (which we will come to later), far more surely to this same mill, unless the stones were used when the stocks were silent as was most likely. Perhaps the millstones were small and intended only for domestic purposes and not a commercial undertaking. Part of a rent roll of Maidstone Manor dated 1510 is in the Lambeth Palace Library.172 Among the tenants is one who lived at Padsholemill. In the year 1537, about the time of the Dissolution, Archbishop Cranmer exchanged with Henry VIII the manor of Maidstone, including two mills, for lands elsewhere in the county. At the beginning of the seventeenth century, the Crown sold Maidstone College and its domain lands to George Brooke, Lord Cobham for the sum of £1,081 18s. ld. A deed dated 13th June, 1550, from Edward IV to Sir Thomas Wyatt the Younger includes the Manor of Oldborough, the Archbishop's Park, and: ' ... also all that our fulling mill called Paddesmyll ... and also all our lands called Fullersmeade, Upper Salteland & Nethersalteland and a parcel of land at the end of the great bridge .. .' l61) Dean and Chapter of Ca.nterbury, MSS. Register T. 17o Idem, fo. 164, 41, p. 279. in Idem, fo. 323, vl25, p. 292. 172 Op. cit., 219. 89 THE LEN WATER-MILLS The lands were stated as being lately in the possession of Sir Thomas Wyatt the Elder and the See of Canterbury.173 A survey of Maidstone Manor made in 1650174 reads: 'It so remained (the property of the Crown) till the reign of King James who granted the same to the City of London. It was then conveyed to the Countess of Winchelsea, and by descent came to Heneage, now Earl of Winchelsea .. .' In 1608, however, James appeared to possess only one Maidstone mill called Paddle le Myll.175 This could be a derivation of Padde 's fulling mill. In a Probate Register of Canterbmy176 the mill is mentioned in the will of Thomas Knatchbull dated 1623: 'I the · said Thomas Knatchbull have lately purchased to me and my heirs and assigns for ever {in fee farms) ... lands tenants ... appurtenances called or known by the name of Padsoll Mill .. .' The property passed to his wife Eleanor. In 1650 Padsole was held by Sir William Collpeper.177 It had apparently been converted, for it was stated as being then a corn mill.178 With the local cloth trade diminishing, perhaps those fulling mills closer to the Weald and supplies of fuller's earth survived longer-­ especially those of Otham and Leeds parishes. In Kent Archives among a set of deeds related to various properties are two documents mentioning Padsole Mill.179 The first is a Copy of a Settlement of Real Estate on the marriage of a Mr. John Mumford, Jr., with Miss E. Nash dated 15th April, 1779. It includes: 'All that mill, millhouse, streams, lands and hereditaments commonly called or known by the name of Padsole Mill ... late in the tenure or occupation of Dansie Sawkins and now of John Green ... together with all Buildings, Stables, Yards, Gardens, Backside Ways ... Watercourses, Dams, Wares, Flood Gates, Flood Hatches etc ... .' A further conveyance of the estates amid the Mumford family dated 22nd June, 1785, including Padsole Mill specifies John Green again as occupant. According to Russell the mill fell into a dilapidated condition in the later part of the eighteenth century. The Maidstone Journal of 1792 advertises the sale of the mill's gear: 173 Hietory of The Oollege of All Saints, Maidstone. m Clement Taylor Smythe, i. m Lansdowne MSS., op. cit. 110 KAO PRO 32/45/376. 1'77 J.M. Russell, History of Maidstone. 11s C. T. Smythe MSS., i, The Manor of Maidstone, 1660. in KAO Ul20 T90. 90 THE LEN WATER-MILLS December 4. 1792. TO BE SOLD At the Mill late Mr. Greens Several pair of French Stones; one dressing mill; two lift jacks; a catch machine and tackle; a wheat machine and tackle, six flour shovels, several mill bills, four spindles, four pairs of horns, one under shot water wheel and gut, shafts with gudgeons, hoops and brass to ditto, spur nuts to ditto, master cog wheel to ditto; one tun, two hoppers and troughs; one overshot water wheel, shaft with gudgeons, hoopsand brass to ditto, master cog wheel to ditto, spur nut to ditto; one upright shaft, with gudgeons, hoop and brass, spur wheel to ditto, two nuts to ditto; a water wheel, t,vo shafts and cog wheel, iron and brass to ditto; a gut to the two overshots, two hursts with bridge-trees and carriages, one round tun, one square ditto, with sundries. Enquire of Mr. Smyth, Mill Lane or of Mr. Hollingworth, High St. Following the sale of milling equipment Padsole Mill was converted to papermaking by James Smyth in 1795/6 who was partner in the firm of Smyth and Hollingworth. Smyth continued participation for a short while only, for he disposed of his share to Thomas Robert. This is probably the share advertised for sale in the Maidstone J ... F.tRS1' SERIES MILL SURVEY OF MAIDSTONE BROWN & SON 1821 -N------------􀀏 =􀀐:=================-- A88EY MILL PRIORY Mx.L 􀀧- . , SITE LE NETHERTOUNE MILL SITE 􀀁 61N. 0. S. 1865/6 FIG. 10. THE LEN WATER-MILLS Early writers have a habit of referring to pairs of millstones as mills-even water-mills-which is very misleading to archaeologists. The above case is clarified by the 'Maidstone Mill' being singular, and the Padsole reference which includes 'the other corn mill the lord has in the town'. According to the reference, the Archbishop held only one mill in Mill Lane, but later there were two distinct mills called the Church Mills. Documents in the possession of Maidstone Corporation describing a division of wards dated 17th October, 1593, mention: 'To Mr. Edward Maplisdin, from the mills in Millane on the weste side their and so downe the highestreate on that side and so under the clifte on both sides and the great Brige.'184 The following extract from a Burghmote Book also mentions a mill in the Lane:186 'Item ther is a common Prevye or place of retrait uppon the milbaye adjoining to the stables and houses of Mr. Ba.therst ther, sometimes Francis Kelshams, which prevey is and ought to (be) common for all people and for that purpose layed forth and made open and common in lieu of an auncient and common prevye sometimes standinge neere the myll ther in Myllane and from thence removed and taken awaye by Richard Barham in his lyfe tyme.' Following the Crown's acquisition of Maidstone Manor in 1537, the tenants of the mills are unknown for some time. Several people were granted various parts of the Manor, but none of these grants mention the mills. The only light we receive in this dark period is that in 1653 John Crispe Senior was a miller in 'Mile Lane' .186 Our next reference is a very interesting deed dated 1683 between Thomas Knatchbull the older and · John Knatchbull, oldest son of Norton Knatchbull and Thomas Knatchbull, nephew of Thomas Knatchbull the elder. It reads:187 'And all that messuage and the ancient rooms with the water mill therein standing situated at the s.outh end of the mills called Church Mills and under a room wherein Katherine Rogers widow now doth inhabite and the Corn mills to the said messuage belonging and therewithall used or enjoyed (that is to say) One Water Mill and one Malt Mill ... at the Millbay at the lower end of a certain street there called Mill Land late in the occupation of John Grigson Miller and now in the occupation of James Gilbert or his assignees . • . • .And all that slaughter house . . . ' · 1u Miss K. S. Martin, Records of Maidetone (1926), 31. 184 Idem, 56. Burghmote Book 2 (1663-1642). 186 Clement Taylor Smythe, i, 92. Burghmote a.nd Council Material. 167 KAO U274 T20. 95 THE LEN WATER-MILLS Apparently the water-mill underneath the occupied room w:as very ancient and no longer in use. Another document in the collection gives further evidence. It refers to: ' ... a messuage and mill at the south end of the Church Milla together with a meadow called Pole field and a Garden then called the Island and formerly the Artichoke garden, all near the Mill Bay at the lower end of Mill lane in Maidstone.' It would seem that the Pole field mentioned was the one allied to Padsole Fulling Mill, although apparently nearer Mill Lane. In 17 45 Maidstone Rate Book refers to two separate mills in the Lane. One was rated at £8 6s. 8d. per year to Daniel Love, the other at £16 13s. 4d. to William Purlia-a good indication that the smaller mill had one set of stones and the larger several. An indenture dated 30th March, 1752,188 describes the mills of Mill Lane. In this indenture Richard W attel of Harrietsham, let to William Purlis of Maidstone, miller: 'All that messuage in which William Purlis now dwelleth and all that Mill-house and Water Corn Mills adjoining And also all that Granary over the house and the hogstye in the Island And also all that messuage commonly called Rawlings Tenement and the Millhouse and Mills commonly called the Little Church Mills adjoining to the said last mentioned Tenement being near the aforesaid Milla and the Granary and Little Stable under it which ... late were used by Daniel Howe and the ground where the said Daniel Howe's Hogg and Haystack usually stood at or near Mill Lane and the Water Flash house Waggon Lodge All the Stables and Hay lofts over the same together with all manner of Houses Stables Outbuildings etc ... lying in Maidstone i n or near a certain Street or Lane commonly called Mill Lane and near to a place there called the Cowyard now or late in the occupation of William Purlis and Daniel Howe.' It is very fortunate that with the deed is an 'Inventory of Mill Tackling belonging to Mr. Purlis at the Church Mills', which includes: 'In the Mill next the Church One Water Wheele which drives the Bolting Mills with Cogg Wheels Shafts Brasses and Gudgeons Pillows Sleepers Also foar Bolting Mills and Spouts Gears Ropes Brasses and Screws thereunto belonging. Also one Wind Fann with all the Brasses Wheeles Spindles Bridge Tree and Birin under it and scry belonging to the same. .Also one pair of French Mill Stones one Trough_ one Tunn one Ladder one Spout one Binn and Shoe belonging to the same. Also three large Binns or Hoppers belonging to the Bolting Mills and one pair of Trundle · Heads 1se KAO U416 T30. 96 THE LEN WATER-MILLS which drive the Stones. Also five wheat Binns with the Linings of the same One Lifting Jack One Counter Wheele Ropes and Pullies belonging to the same and one Sack Cart.' In the other Mill: 'Two pair of French Mill Stones one pair of Peaks two Spindles two Maddocks and two Brass Steps belonging to the same. Also two Meal Troughs, three Ladders three Tunns three Hoppers three Shoes and three Calls belonging to the same. Also three Bolting Mills and Shafts Brasses and Gudgeons Bridge Trees and Spouts two Counter Wheeles and other small Tackling or Gear thereunto belonging. Also one Wind Fann Binn and Scry Brasses and other Tackling belonging to the same. Three pair of Trundle Heads which drive the stones. Also the Partitions and Linings of the Flour and Meal Pestries nine Wheat Binns two long Series one short one three Iron Cranes and a Sack Cart.' Two separate mills are described, one being considerably more productive than the other. It is more than conjecture that the former mill marked the superior site, the mill nearest the Church being Little Church Mill. Referring to the Survey of 1Waidstone by Brown & Son in 1821 shows several buildings adjacent to the head of the mill-pond. The block parallel and next to the lane was known to be a mill, as future evidence shows. It marks without doubt, the superior position, abreast the stream, and furthermore, the manner in which it restricts the road width points to a long-standing existence. The Maidstone Rate Books from 1668 give occupiers of the Mill Lane Mills and their rates. Throughout the period the rates generally increased. Up to mid-eighteenth century the rates for all Maidstone mills were quite unsettled, however, after a gap in the records the Church Mill rates remained fairly static at a high level until the 1820s. The names related to the mills, in chronological order, between approximately 1670 and 1815 are as follows: John Grigson Robert Gilbert James Appleton William Purlis Daniel Love Richard Mercer Among the Clement Taylor Smythe manuscripts in the Museum is material for a history of Maidstone written in 1832.189 It relates: 'The Len divides at the Little Bridge (Gabriels Hill) into two streams by which it flows into the mill bay of Mr. Mercers flour mill. The 189 Op. cit., ill. 97 THE LEN WATER-MILLS south one is a watercourse of modem excavation made 70 or 80 years ago to draw the water off more quickly from above the Little Bridge and prevent floods there which used to come into the lower part of the brewhouse. The said Millbay is a large sheet of water covering I¼ acres and was much improved by :Mr. Mercer's late father ... at the bottom of the street and lane is the mill house, mill and premises of Messrs. Mercer.' Although Richard Mercer's father is credited with enlarging the mill-pond the Rates would point to William Purlis as the improver. The graph giving the rates shows a great rise between 1745 and 1770 probably attributable to the new cut mentioned, together with enlargement of the mill-pond. Only one mill is mentioned above. Probably Little Church Mill with its single stone was abandoned or acquired by the owner of the larger mill. In a Directory of 1803190 under Maidstone Trades is Mercer Thos. miller. Looking to Brown's map, the original 'waste' employed prior to 1850-60 between Gabriel's Hill and Mill Lane must have followed close to the southern side of the island with the building and terminated alongside the 'three tiered' building .. Then the new southern cut was made and later l\fr. Mercer Senior enlarged the pond, gained in storage and perhaps some small increase in head of water. In a printed version of the material for the History of Maidstone, the writer, speaking of :Mr. Mercer's Mill, added: 'It has been reported to me that the inhabitants of Maidstone took some privilege respecting the grinding of their meal at this mill, but for this I do not remember to have met with any written authority.' An interesting relic of manorial soke rights. It is odd that a mill should stand on the waste of another, but this was so in the case of Little Church Mill. Common ownership certainly seems to have prevailed and may have been necessary, for work in the smaller mill was very dependent on the excess water from the larger, particularly in summer. In Pigot's Directory of Kent, 1824, the millers of Mill Lane were John and Thomas Mercer. By 1839, however, the Mercers took a partner, for in a book of that year the names Mercer & Parton·appear as millers.191 The name Mill Lane also changes to Street. Bagshaw's Directory of 1847 gives Mercer & Parton, but the Post Office Directory of 1855/61 states Parton, H. & J. K. only. A later version of the Directory dated 1874 gives Parton & Page, In the 1895. Kelly's Directory the only millers that could have been in Mill Lane are West & Wright, Town Wharf, High St. & Iguana.don 100 W. Finch, Kent Directory (1803). 191 James Phippen, '1.'opography of Maidetone (1889). 98 THE EMPLOYMENT OF WATER POWER IN THI'( LEN VALLEY 􀂍CORN MILUNG.fillllll FULLING. lll!lllcoMBINATION. 􀂎 PAPERMAJ