River Len, Kent
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| Len | |
| River | |
| Country | England |
|---|---|
| Region | Kent |
| District | Maidstone |
| Tributaries | |
| - right | The Fairbourne, Holingbourne Stream or Snagbrook, The stream at Bearsted |
| Source | Bigon Heath near Lenham in Kent |
| Mouth | joins River Medway |
| Length | 16 km (10 mi) |
The River Len rises on Bigon Heath to the south-east of the village centre of Lenham 0.6 miles (1km) from the source of the River Great Stour; both rise on the Greensand Ridge. Its length is c10 miles (16km). It enters the River Medway at Maidstone.
The river flows in a generally westerly direction. Today it runs parallel with the M20 motorway for much of the first part of its journey: it passes between the hamlet of Fairbourne Heath and Harrietsham; after Broomfield the river becomes the lake adjoining Leeds Castle. The Len enters the town of Maidstone south of Bearsted and its waters become the lake in Mote Park; and it enters the River Medway c1.25 mile (2km) beyond.[1]
The river powered a number of watermills on itself and its tributaries in the parishes of Ulcombe, Leeds, Hollingbourne, Boxley and Maidstone.
[edit] Watermills
The River Len powered a number of watermills, from source to mouth they were:-
[edit] Chegworth Mill, Ulcombe.
TQ 849 527
A mill has stood on this site since the early 14th Century. The present mill was a corn mill and worked until the late 1960s. It has an overshot waterwheel of 10 feet 10 inches (3.30 m) diameter and 7 feet 6 inches (2.29 m) wide, made by Weeks of Maidstone. The axle is cast iron and 7½ inches (190mm) square. The pit wheel is cast iron with 96 wooden cogs. The cast iron upright shaft carried a cast iron wallower with 38 teeth and a cast iron Great Spur Wheel with 104 cogs. It powered three pairs of millstones. One pair are French Burr stones (by Hughes & Son of Dover and London) of 44 inches (1.12 m) diameter, one pair are Peak stones of 46 inches (1.17 m) diameter and the third pair have a Peak runner stone on a French Burr bedstone, both 42 inches (1.07 m) diameter. The Crown Wheel drove two layshafts, which powered various machines including a "Ureka" winnower and an oat crusher by Ganz & Co., of Budapest, Hungary. A saw bench outside the mill was also driven by belts & pulleys. The sack hoist is driven from the top of the upright shaft. The last miller was Ted Uren, who started at the mill in 1961, and took over from Harold Potter. The mill was house converted c.1990.[2][3]
[edit] Leeds Castle Mill, Broomfield.
TQ 835 532
This mill dates from the early Thirteenth Century and fell out of use in the middle Seventeenth Century. The building was some 16 feet (4.88 m) wide, 42 feet (12.80 m) long and 35 feet (10.67 m) high. The waterwheel was driven from the lake to the castle. The mill was located between the Outer Barbican and Inner Barbican and the breast shot waterwheel would have been some 10 feet (3.05 m) or 11 feet (3.35 m) diameter and 3 feet (0.91 m) wide.[4][5][6]
[edit] Otham Mill.
Also known as Bearsted Mill, this corn mill was built in 1837. It was still standing in 1939 and the overshot waterwheel had a width that exceeded its diameter.[7]
[edit] Otham Paper Mill
This mill was marked on the first 6" Ordnance Survey map.[8]
[edit] Old Mill, Leeds.
TQ 820 541
This mill stood on the parish boundary of Hollingbourne and Leeds. It had an overshot waterwheel of at least 12 feet (3.66 m) diameter and 7 feet (2.13 m) width. The mill was built in 1733 as a paper mill by James Whatman and Richard Harris was the miller c.1736.[9][10][11]
[edit] Thurnham (Ballard's) Mill
This was a Domesday mill, and stood some 200 yards (180 m) upstream of the present mill, on the south side of Milgate Park. In 1624 the mill was occupied by Edward Chambers. In 1635 the mill, late in the occupation of Matthew Chambers, being two corn mills and a fulling mill, were conveyed to William Cage. In 1685 Celia Cage, widow of Matthew, held the mills. Fulling having apparently been discontinued by this time. The millpond was some 400 feet (120 m) long and the dam about 7 feet (2.13 m) high, indicating that the waterwheel was breastshot. William Barber was the miller in the mid Eighteenth Century, and Richard Ballard took the mill in 1777. Ballard's mill was demolished c.1828 and a new mill built downstream.[12][13]
[edit] Thurnham Mill.
TQ 802 547
This mill was built by the Cage family in the late 1820s on a piece of land called Byfrance, part of the Milgate estate. The tail race from Ballard's Mill was extended some 200 yards (180 m) to get sufficient height to drive an overshot waterwheel of 9 feet (2.74 m) diameter and 10 feet (3.05 m) wide. The waterwheel was carried on a cast iron axle and drove a 7 feet (2.13 m) diameter cast iron pit wheel with wooden cogs. That drove the wallower on the upright shaft, then a 6 feet (1.83 m) diameter cast iron great spur wheel drove four pairs of millstones. There were two pairs of French burr stones and two pairs of Peak stones. One pair of each type was 4 feet (1.22 m) diameter and the other pair of each type was 3 feet 6 inches (1.07 m) diameter. The Blinkhorn family had a long association as millers at the mill. The mill was sold for house conversion in 1986, at that time only the frame of the waterwheel survived, all other machinery having been removed. [13][14][15]
[edit] Turkey Mill, Boxley.
TQ 772 556
This mill was originally a fulling mill and is known to have been used as such between 1629 and 1671. It was at various times known as Powle Mill (1629), Overloppe Mill (1640,) and Gill's Mill (1732). The name Turkey Mill was first recorded in 1739. The mill was converted from a fulling mill to a paper mill during the time John Cripps owned it (1657-95). In 1740 James Whatman took over the mill, and it was here that he developed 'wove' paper. At this time Turkey Mill was the largest paper mill in the country. The mill was sold by James Watman (jr) in 1792 to Thomas, Robert and Finch Hollingworth of Maidstone for the substantial sum of £32,000. The Hollingworths were originally in partnership with William Balston, but he withdrew from the partnership in 1805 and set up a new paper mill at Springfield, Maidstone. Ownership of the mill passed from Thomas Hollingworth through his sons and thence through their nieces until eventually Major William Pitt was the sole owner. On his death in 1976 Turkey Mills were bought by Wiggins Teape and closed down, thus ending over 280 years of continuous paper production at the mill. The longest by any paper mill in Great Britain.
Watermarks
The copyright of the 'J Whatman' was transferred to William Balston in 1806 and production of Whatman paper at Turkey Mill. In 1859 the 'Turkey Mill' watermark was sold to William Balston's two sons at Springfield Mill, and thereafter paper produced at Turkey Mill was watermarked 'Original Turkey Mill', 'O.T.M.' or 'T & J Hollingworth'.
Uses of paper produced at Turkey Mill
The artist Thomas Gainsborough used paper produced at the mill for his drawings. He wrote in 1797 that it was worth 'a guinea a quire'. J. M. W. Turner also used Whatman Paper and William Blake used it for four of his illustrated books. Napoleon wrote his will on Whatman Paper and Queen Victoria used it for her personal correspondence. In the 1930s Soviet leaders used Whatman Paper to publish their five year plan for the future of the USSR and at the end of World War Two the peace treaty with Japan was written on Whatman Paper. [10][16]
[edit] Pole Mill, Boxley.
TQ 774 553
This mill was demolished in the 1830s in order to create the Lake at Mote Park, Maidstone. It was then in the Boxley parish.[17]
[edit] Christian Mill
This was a fulling mill, a now demolished cottage nearby was called Fulling Mill House and bore the date 1567.[16][18]
[edit] Padsole (Lenworth) Mill, Maidstone.
TQ 764 556
This mill stood in Water Lane. A dispute over the building of a mill here reached the Kings Court in 1313-4. The mill was known as Poll Mill in 1449 (a fulling mill). In 1510 the miller was one of 22 tenants of the Archbishop of Canterbury who considered his rent was excessive and refused to pay. In 1548 it consisted of two wheat mills, two fulling mills, a malt-mill and two potchers. It was known as Paddes Fulling Mill in 1550 and Paddle le Myll in 1608. The mill was rebuilt in 1796 as a paper mill and some half a century later it was converted into a corn mill. This mill was marked on Brown & Son's survey of Maidstone, 1821. This was demolished in 1874 and a new mill built nearby. The last mill building was a three storey brick structure. The building survived until the 1980s.[8][16][19]
[edit] Church Mill, Maidstone.
TQ 759 555
Church mill was standing in 1572. It was marked on Brown & Son's survey of Maidstone, 1821. The mill was demolished in 1902 as part of a road widening scheme. The millpond survives.[8][16][18]
[edit] Little Church Mill, Maidstone.
TQ 760 555 This mill stood on the watercourse that was the bypass from Church Mill. It was marked on Brown & Son's survey of Maidstone, 1821. The mill demolished in the early 19th Century.[8][16][18]
[edit] Tributaries.
Streams rise north of Harrietsham and powered three watermills in the village before joining the River Len.
The Hollingbourne Stream rises above the village and powered four watermills in the village and a further three below the village before joining the River Len.
A stream rises north of Bearsted and powered a watermill before joining the River Len.
A stream rises in Leeds, it powered three watermills before joining the River Len.
[edit] Watermills on the tributaries
[edit] Streams at Harrietsham.
[edit] Selesbourne.
This was a grinding (corn) mill.[20]
[edit] The Fair Bourne.
[edit] Polhill Mill, Harrietsham.
TQ 861 523
This was a grinding (corn) mill. It had collapsed by 1933 and been demolished by 1939 although the waterwheel and pentrough by Weeks of Maidstone survive.[21][7][20]
[edit] Fairbourne Mill, Harrietsham
TQ 866 517
This mill was probably a Domesday mill. The first definite reference to this mill was in 1580, when the rent was assessed at 9 hens, commuted to 2d. The mill was called Fulborne Mill in 1608 and Edward Hickmut was the occupier of the mill in 1694. In 1798 there was no mill on the site although later another mill was built. This was a corn mill driving two pairs of millstones. Thomas Clark (1838-1929) was the miller through the second half of the Nineteenth Century. The waterwheel was later replaced by a turbine. The mill building remains, empty of machinery.[7][20][22][23][24]
[edit] Holme Myll.
This mill was owned by Francis Colepeper Esq at the time of his death in 1590. It was worth 40s per annum then.[25]
[edit] Hollingbourne Stream or Snagbrook.
[edit] Manor Mill.
A mill may have stood on this site since 980, and almost certainly since Domesday. In 1591 the mill was in the occupation of William Huxeley. In 1718 the mill pond was recorded as having an area of 70,000 square feet (6,500 m²). The lease of the mill was in the ownership of John Spencer Culpeper and passed to Francis Child in 1762. In 1868 the pond had decreased in size to 36,500 square feet (3,390 m²). The mill and house were rebuilt in 1880 and the miller from this time until 1925 was a Mr. Wratten. The main axle of the watermill broke in 1925 thus bringing an end to the working life of the mill. The mill had an overshot waterwheel 10 feet (3.05 m) diameter and some 3 feet (0.91 m) wide of composite construction and powered three pairs of millstones via a lineshaft. The mill building survives with its waterwheel but devoid of machinery.[21][26][27][28]
[edit] (2nd mill)
A corn mill was at work in 1847.[21][27]
[edit] (3rd mill)
A corn mill was at work in 1847.[21][27]
[edit] Hollingbourne Paper Mills.
In 1847 this mill was producing pasteboard. The mill was recorded as Hollingbourn Paper Mills in Bartholomew's Gazetteer of 1887. A paper making machine from this mill was sold to Messrs. Wiggins Teape in 1892. It was installed in Buckkland Paper Mill, Dover.[21][27][29]
[edit] Eyhorne Mill.
TQ 835 546
This corn mill last worked sometime between 1885 and 1898. The waterwheel was probably breastshot as the head was only some 6 feet (1.83 m) or 7 feet (2.13 m). The mill was disused by 1898.[30]
[edit] Grove Mill
This mill was working in 1885. [30]
[edit] Park Mill
This mill was working in 1885. [30]
[edit] Stream at Leeds
[edit] Le Nethertoune Mill, Leeds.
TQ 823 534
This mill stood probably had a breastshot or undershot waterwheel. It was a fulling mill recorded as being "in ruins" in 1466.[8][9]
[edit] Abbey Mill, Leeds.
TQ 823 530
This mill was marked on the first 6" OS map of Kent in 1865. It had an overshot waterwheel and drove six pairs of millstones by a lineshaft. The mill was derelict but intact in 1936 but partly demolished later. Some machinery still remains in the mill.[8][21]
[edit] Priory Mill, Leeds
The site of this mill was recorded on a map of 1821.[8]
[edit] Stream at Bearsted
[edit] Lower Milgate Mill, Bearsted.
TQ 802 552
This mill stood was part of a small estate known as The Comb. It was in existence during the first half of the Eighteenth Century, appearing on a map of 1707 which was partly resurveyed in 1746.[31]
[edit] References
- ^ Notes on the river: British History Online
- ^ Mills Archive
- ^ Fuller & Spain (1986). Watermills (Kent and the Borders of Sussex). Maidstone: Kent Archaeological Society, pp38-44. ISBN 0 906746 08 6.
- ^ Mills Archive
- ^ Mills Archive
- ^ Fuller & Spain (1986). Watermills (Kent and the Borders of Sussex). Maidstone: Kent Archaeological Society, pp89-90. ISBN 0 906746 08 6.
- ^ a b c Kent County Library
- ^ a b c d e f g Mills Arhcive
- ^ a b Fuller & Spain (1986). Watermills (Kent and the Borders of Sussex). Maidstone: Kent Archaeological Society, p109. ISBN 0 906746 08 6.
- ^ a b Turkey Mill
- ^ NGA
- ^ Mills Archive
- ^ a b Mills Archive
- ^ Mills Archive
- ^ Mills Archive
- ^ a b c d e Reid, Kenneth (1987). Watermills of the London Countryside, Vol 1. Cheddar, Somerset, UK: Charles Skilton Ltd., pp123-24. ISBN 0284 39165 4.
- ^ Fuller & Spain (1986). Watermills (Kent and the Borders of Sussex). Maidstone: Kent Archaeological Society, p116. ISBN 0 906746 08 6.
- ^ a b c Fuller & Spain (1986). Watermills (Kent and the Borders of Sussex). Maidstone: Kent Archaeological Society, p53. ISBN 0 906746 08 6.
- ^ Mills Archive
- ^ a b c Harrietsham Village
- ^ a b c d e f Coles Finch, William (1933). Watermills & Windmills. London WC1: C W Daniel Company, pp37-38.
- ^ Mills Archive
- ^ Mill Archive
- ^ Mills Archive
- ^ Culpepper
- ^ Mills Archive
- ^ a b c d Mills Archive
- ^ (1985) Traditional Kent Buildings, No. 4. Kent County Council Education Committee., pp11-14. ISSN 0260 4116.
- ^ Hatfield
- ^ a b c Fuller & Spain (1986). Watermills (Kent and the Borders of Sussex). Maidstone: Kent Archaeological Society, p58.. ISBN 0 906746 08 6.
- ^ Fuller & Spain (1986). Watermills (Kent and the Borders of Sussex). Maidstone: Kent Archaeological Society, p54. ISBN 0 906746 08 6.
[edit] See also
Medway watermills article
| River Medway in Kent and tributaries |
|---|
|
River Beult • River Bewl • River Bourne • East Malling Stream • River Eden • River Len • Loose Stream • River Medway • River Teise • Wateringbury Stream |
| List of rivers of Great Britain |
