Narborough Bone Mill

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Narborough Bone Mill
Watermill
The waterwheel of the Narborough Bone Watermill
Country	England
State	Norfolk
Region	East of England
District	King's Lynn and West Norfolk
Municipality	Narborough
Location	River Nar
Founded	c. 1820
Visitation	Freely accessible to the public via footpath on the south bank of the river (All year round)
Narborough bone mill within King's Lynn and West Norfolk

Narborough Bone Mill was a watermill that operated on the River Nar^[1] in the west of the English county of Norfolk^[2]. The watermill was 1 mile downstream of the village of Narborough. The mill was built in the early part of the 19th century and records show that it was owned by the Marriott Brothers in 1830^[3], who also owned the navigation rights on the river Nar

Contents 1 The Watermills Operations 2 Production 3 Human Bones 4 Closure 5 References

[edit] The Watermills Operations

The watermill was used for the rendering down of bones into agricultural fertilizer, from the local slaughter houses and from the whaling industry. Bones were carried up the River Nar by barge from the blubber processing factory at Lynn. Seven and half miles to the north on the River Cong stands Congham watermill. Here Whales were carried by Horse and cart to be processed in to oil. The Bones from there were then carried to Narborough for rendering. Both mills were in remote locations possibly because of the distinctive smell of the production that would have been prevalent. The fact that Narborough watermill was not near a road did not matter as both its raw materials and its finished products were carried by horse drawn barge. The River Nar navigation was opened in 1759 and also was also used to carry coal and grain.

[edit] Production

Precise details of the reduction process have not been recorded at Narborough but the usual procedure that the bones were first boiled to make them brittle and to remove the fat. The fat would be skimmed off, and used for such things as coach and cart grease. The bones be either chopped by hand or put put through a toothed cylinder. Either process would reduced the bones to small more manageable pieces. In the Final process the millstones powered by the waterwheel would ground the bone into powder.

[edit] Human Bones

At one time the bone rendering watermill was used for a rather gruesome practice. The exhumed remains of cemeteries and burial grounds from the north German city of Hamburg were shipped to Kings Lynn and taken to the mill to be processed into agricultural fertilizer^[4]. At the time know one questioned the ethics of the trade as it was said at the time that "one ton of German bone-dust saves the importation of ten tons of German corn".

[edit] Closure

In 1884 Nar Valley Drainage Board purchased the navigation rights to the Nar and subsequently built a sluice that prevented further river traffic. The mill ceased production a few years after this event probably as a consequence of drainage Board’s actions. In 1915 the watermill was still standing but the buildings were demolished bit by bit over the next few years^[5]. The machinery went to scrap and most of the rubble was put down on farm tracks. Today all that remains is the sixteen foot diameter waterwheel and the remains of the wall of the main mill building.

[edit] References

v • d • e Watermills of Norfolk Aldborough Watermill • Buxton Watermill • Congham Oil Mill • Eade’s Watermill • Gimingham Watermill • Glandford Watermill • Gresham Watermill • Gunton Park Sawmill • Heacham Watermill • Hempstead Watermill • Kettle Watermill • Letheringsett Watermill • Letheringsett Brewery watermill • Mundesley Watermill • Narborough Bone Mill • Sheringham Watermill • Snettisham Watermill • Weybourne Watermill