The Old Mill Bexley
Written By Jacob Scott
THE OLD MILL, BEXLEY
By B. D. and A. J. STOYEL
THE destruction by fire of the Old Mill at Bexley in 1966 makes it
appropriate to place on record a few historical and descriptive details of
what had been one of the best-loved and most characteristic features of
the neighbourhood. The large weatherboarded mill was built across the
River Cray at the southern fringe of the village of Old Bexley, in
proximity to the parish church, and, with a large weeping willow growing
on either side of the river in front of the building, the scene was a
highly attractive one when viewed from the nearby road or railway.
As is the case with so many watermills, the site is no doubt an
ancient one and almost certainly dates back to the Sa,xon period. A
succession of mill buildings will have followed one another in approximately
the same position, use being made of any natural advantages of
the original site, as well as subsequent artificial improvements, and
perhaps even incorporating portions of an earlier structure.
Domesday Book credits 'Bix' (Be.xley) with three mills and there is
little doubt that this was one of them. It formed part of the demesne of
the Manor of Bexley until modern times. The Manor was held by Christ
Church Priory, Canterbury, from A.D. 814, but by the time of Domesday
it had been acquired by the Archbishop of Canterbury, in whose hands
it remained until the Reformation. There are numerous references to
the mill throughout the medieval period. In 1255, for instance, the
miller was Auxellus and appears to have held the mill on the condition
of guarding prisoners entrusted to his care, as he was censured for
allowing a suspected murderer to escape.1 The Manor Court Roll refers
in 1280-81 to the thatching of the mill, the purchase of a, new millstone
and the sale of an old one.2 In 1283-84 it is recorded that all the men on
the Manor were obliged to make use of the mill of the Archbishop,s as
was so often the case with manorial mills.
In 1300-01 a new millstone was installed at a cost of no less than
55s. 6d.* In 1517-18 repairs costing £8 were carried out, and details are
given in the Court Roll of the materials used, nails, timber, etc. A man
was employed for ten days on this work, for which he received 'le day'
1 K. C. R"0id, 'The Watennills of Kent' in Kent County Journal, Summer
1939, 8.
2 D. Wolfe, in Transactions of the Dartford District Antiquarian Society, vi
(1936), 25.
3 F. R.H. Du Boulay, Medieval Bexley, Bexley (1961), 52-3.
' Ibid., 16.
105
ua
THE OLD MILL, BEXLEY
sevenpence.6 In 1530 the watermill was to have been leased by Archbishop
Warham to John Ma-sea.II, together with the Manor and desmesne
lands, for a. period of 30 years, but there is evidence that this lease did
not materialize. 6
In 1537 the Manor of Bexley came into the hands of the Crown and
subsequently passed to Sir John Spilman. Justinian Champneis, of
Hall Place, Bexley, evidently had some interest in it as his will (1596)
makes reference to 'certain years to come (i.e. before expiration of
lease) in Court Lodge in the Ma,nor of Bexley where Justinian Kington
dwelles in the town mill called Bexley M:ill in occupation of Robert
Bexley'.7
Later the Manor was in the hands of William Camden, who left it
in 1623 to Oxford University to endow a chair of history. No doubt the
mill changed hands with the Manor each time and it was certainly still
in the ownership of the University in 1822,B although it was recorded as
being the property of Queen's College in 1808.9
The last mill on the site was reputed to have been built during the
reign of Queen Anne,1 o but the date 1779 appeared on one of the beams
and this may well represent the period at which the building as a whole
was constructed. At all events, by Hasted's time it was evidently something
more than a small village mill, as in his first edition he describes
it as the 'large corn mill', although in his 1797 edition this is amended
to the 'corn mill belonging to the Lord of the Manor'.
As can be seen very well from three large-sized photographs preserved
in Bexley Heath Reference Library and dated c. 1900, c. 1912
and March 1956 respectively, the mill was a large building of three
storeys of weatherboarding upon one of brick, with a tiled roof. The
weatherboarding was painted cream or pale yellow in modern times.
The mill was separated from the roacoupier.
11 Information from H. E. S. Simmons.
11 Op. cit., note 9.
13 Kemuh Times, 6th February, 1931, per H. E. S. Simmons.
1' Idem, note 9.
lG Idem, note 8.
107
THE OLD MILL, BEXLEY
The following notice from the London Gazette, 4th July, 1826, may
also possibly refer to Bexley Mill:
'George Robert Fowle, formerly of Bexley, Kent, Farmer, Brick
Maker and Miller, and late of Maidstone, Kent, Brickmaker and Corn
Dealer, Bankrupt.'10
From this point it may be convenient to list the successive millers
in tabular form, showing the period during which each is known to have
been at Bexley Mill:
1828-29 George Wildingl7
1832-34 Thomas Payneis
1838 R. Wilson10
1839 Stephen Ca,nnon20 , 21, 22
1841-42 William Cannon23
1845-91 Stephen Cannon24
1895-1907 Ca.nnon & Gaze25
1915-27 Queenfisher Flour Company26
The ramifications of the Cannon family are somewhat obscure and
the above table is an over-simplification of the true position. It seems
that Stephen, the youngest son of Stephen Cannon, commenced
business a.s a corn factor in 1832, and in 1839 took a mill at Bexley.27
There is, however, other and somewhat conflicting evidence that
William Cannon occupied not this mill but the one at Hall Place,
Bexley,28 and it is possible that the 1841-42 references to William
Cannon really relate to the latter mill. On the other hand it has been
stated29 that Hall Place Mill was not acquired by the Cannon family
until 1882.
The younger Stephen Cannon mentioned above was born in about
1812 and died in 1872,30 but it is not clear what his relationship was to
William Cannon, who was said to be the miller in 1841-42. His eldest son
was also named Stephen, and was born about 1836 and died in 1917.81
The latter is said to have taken over the mill at the age of 14, i.e. in
lG Idem, note 11.
17 Pigot's Directory.
18 Directory references per H. E. S. Simmons.
10 Survey and Valuation, 1838, Bexley Borough Library.
20 Iikrn, note 18.
2 1 Iikrn, note 19.
22 Bexley Tithe Charge .Apportionment, 1839, per Bexley Borough Library.
23 Idem, note 18.
z.t Idem.
2• Irlem.
20 Idem.
27 Tlie Mifler, 1898, per H. E. S. Simmons.
za Robson's Directory.
20 Idem, note 11.
30 Tombstone inscriptions in Baxley Churchyard.
31 Idem.
108
0w
Bexley Mill from rhe ro,1d, Febr11111·y l!Jfi(i.
J•. J. TtMler
PLA'IE II
A. J. Stoytl
Bexley Mill from upstream, April 1954.
Bexley Mill after the firo of May 1906,
'
'
PL,\TE III
A. J. Stov,l
THE OLD MILL, BEXLEY
about 1850, owing to his father's ill-health.32 The story is still further
complicated by the fact that the last-mentioned Stephen had 13
children, the eldest of whom was yet another Stephen, c. 1860-81; the
latter also seems to have been associated with the mill, as was a
brother, Thomas Neville Cannon, 1864-1932.33
As stated above, the Cannon family also had Hall Place Mill at
Bexley. In 1877 Stephen Cannon bought Erith Mills and in 1882 the
Royal Victoria Mill at Dartford. He was later joined in partnership by
J. T. Gaze. Accordingly the firm of Cannon & Gaze Ltd. were for a time
operating four different flour mills in north-west Kent. It is said that
it was due to the great success which Stephen Cannon had made of
Bexley Mill that his firm embarked upon a big expansion project
involving the refitting of the Erith Mills in 1891 with a much enlarged
capacity.84 Subsequently they gave up their mills at Bexley and
Dartford.as
It may be of interest to record that one of the Stephen Cannons was
reputed to be the most skilled mill-stone dresser in Kent. For a time he
occupied Bridge House, an attractive Georgian building nearly opposite
the mill. Reference has already been made to the pair of weeping
willows in front of the mill: by 1928 the original trees had become much
decayed and were replaced by new trees planted by Thomas Nevill
Cannon and Harry, another member of the family, on the north and
south sides of the river respectively.86 There was a legend that the
original two trees were planted in memory of two lovers drowned in the
River Cray!87
In recent years all connection with milling had virtually disappeared
as the building was used for the manufacture of sacks by Firmin & Co.
(London) I.td. The mill was owned by Mr. H. E. Epps, who lives in
Bridge House, and leased to Firmin & Co., when the tragic fire occurred
which destroyed the structure completely on 12th May, 1966.88, 89
Of the three photographs reproduced, Plate I differs from most
views of the mill iu that it is relatively little obscured by the trees in
front of it, being taken in winter after one tree had been removed.
Plate II also shows a view not often seen by the public since it was
taken from the rear. Plate III, taken soon after the fire, shows how
completely the old building was destroyed, even revealing the rectangular
chimney at the rear of the mill.
n Op. oit., note 10.
83 Idem, note 30.
8' Information from E. Hammond.
36 Idem, note l l.
so Op. oit., note 10.
87 Bertha. Stamp, 'Bexley Mill' in !Cent Oounty Journal, August 1939, 90.
as Sidcup and Kentish Times, 13th and 20th Mo.y, 1966,
so P. J. Tester, Bexley Looal Sec1·etary's Report, Arch. Oant., lxxxi (1966), liv.
109
THE OLD MILL, BEXLEY
AOKNOWLEDGMENTS
In compiling this brief account of Bexley Mill the authors have been
helped by the recollections of a number of people connected with the
building, to whom they would like to e.xpress their thanks. They also
acknowledge their indebtedness to our member, Mr. P. J. Tester, for
much help and encouragement, for permission to reproduce the
photograph shown in Plate I and also for very kindly reading the
manuscript; to Mr. H. E. S. Simmons for making available the results
of much research; and to the London Borough of Be.xley Public
Library for permission to quote from unpublished material in their
possession.
no