Stebbing Town Mill (EHER 36671)

18th century watermill. It worked until its closure in 1995.

Original HER entry merged with NRHE data import: Town Mill (NAT). <1> A working watermill, producing animal feed. It is 18th century, and timber-framed and weatherboarded, with a red plain tiled gambrel roof ½ hipped to left with gabled, weatherboarded hoist loft with arched timber brackets and three light, small paned window. Two storeys and attic, with four iron small paned windows. Central board doors to ground and first floor. Five bays with hanging knees to ground floor and arched braces to first floor tie beams. All machinery intact. <2> The survey of Town Mill, undertaken prior to its conversion into residential accommodation, revealed that it was built during the late 17th to early 18th century as six bay, two-storey timber-framed mill, which was probably equipped from the outset with an undershot wheel (however, no evidence of the wheel survived). The mill was renovated during the mid to later 19th century, at which point a new (pitch back) waterwheel and stone drive gearing (fabricated by Fell Christy of Chelmsford) was inserted. Contemporary with this re-gearing was the heightening of the mill with the addition of a second (attic) floor and lucam. The mill continued in use, latterly mainly grinding animal feed, until it finally closed as a mill in 1995. <3> Stebbing Town Mill/Grade II/working order. <4> 2008. Survey. The Domesday survey mentions two watermills in the parish of Stebbing. A deed of 1316 refers to Bullocksmelle while a later deed in 1341 also refers to Bullocksmelle in Magna Warefield. As the present mill lies close to a series of fields still named Warefield it seems reasonable that it occupies the site of Bullocksmelle. In 1381 a tax return lists two millers, John Miller and William Crakeborn, the latter thought to be the incumbent of Bullocksmelle. A manorial survey of 1565 records a change of title to ‘towne myl’ and based on a up turn in farming the conversion in the later 18th century from fulling to corn milling. An early 19th century valuation of the mill was made for Robert Dixon while the tithe award of 1838 records Joseph Dixon as occupier and the Earl of Essex as the owner. After 1843 the mill was leased to Samuel Chopping and then to Joseph Chopping. In 1877 just before arable farming was once more plunged into deep recession the mill was modernised and re-geared. The lease passed from the Choppings to Henry Ruffel who eventually purchased the freehold in 1901. During this period the mill was worked by Edward Hynds who bought the freehold from Ruffel in 1931. Flour milling at Town mill had ceased by 1901 and latterly it was used to mill animal feed and break horse beans. It finally closed in 1995. During the conversion of Town Mill to residential use in 2003 an historic building survey was completed. Analysis of the timber frame revealed that the existing watermill was originally built in later 17th to early 18th century as a 6 bay two storey watermill with an undershot wheel. The mill was substantially renovated during the last quarter of the 19th century, at which point (1877) a new a pitch back wheel and gearing by Fell Christy were added along with a portable steam engine. Contemporary with the re-gearing was the heightening of the mill with the addition of a second attic (bin) floor and a lucam. Town mill was converted into residential use in 2003. It is a 2½ storey timber-framed and weather-boarded later 17th to early 18th century mill abutted by a later in-line brick-built mill house, extended to the rear in the 19th century. The mills façade comprises a two window range on both ground and first floor with a central entrance and taking-in door above. The lucam is situated slightly off-centre to the north-east and is built into the south-east roof pitch just above the eaves. The plain tiled roof is half hipped to the south-west but is gabled to the north-east where it abuts the chimney stack and lower gabled roofline of the mill house. Gabled dormers have been added to the front and rear pitches of the mill house roofline. The mill pond elevation has few windows with three small casements lighting the first (stone) floor and a small casement to the rear of the hursting. The 19th century rear extension of the mill house is brick built, 1½ storeys with a plain tile Mansard roof and rebuilt axial stack. Constructed with a primary braced post and truss timber frame using a mixture of both oak and Baltic pine, the mill comprises 6 broadly proportionate bays resting on a red brick plinth, much of which was replaced when the mill was re-geared in the later 19th century. The binding joists where commonly stop chamfered and supported by knee braces, in many cases replacing the original arch brace. The storey posts had Roman numeric carpenters assembly marks which were tagged to the north and ran from I to V from east to west. Although many of the buckets were missing the cast-iron pitch back waterwheel, steel axle, the double-shut mechanism and pentrough all remained in a restorable condition within the central bays at ground floor. In the next bay to the north-east the iron pit wheel, wallower, great spur, hursting, two stone nuts, auxiliary drive gear and the tentering gear, installed along with the waterwheel in 1877 all remained intact. On the first floor (stone floor) one complete set of French Burr millstones and furniture remain, although the other two pairs of the original three underdriven stones had been removed. To the north of the extant millstones was the sack hoist drive with a smaller auxiliary drive and hursting to the west. Meal compactors, sack scales, counterweights, lay shafts and an assortment of millers tools including, dressing hammers, planes and a lewis were recorded at the time of the survey in 2003. The attic floor mainly comprised a series of grain bins and hoppers set either side of an axial walkway or catwalk. Sack traps were present in the east and west bays and in the lucam floor while the sack hoist drum was located adjacent to the straight flight and opposite the lucam. Pulley mechanisms for tensioning the sack hoist drive and for remotely operating the hoist remained within the main roof and lucam. The roof structure had been reworked when the mill was heightened in the 19th century, but it maintained much of its original form reusing the heavy oak and pine principals and butt purlins. The original raking struts however were removed to enable the addition of the axial walkway. As part of the consent to convert the mill into a dwelling, agreements were made with the developer to retain much of the mills important internal technology, including gearing, stones, fixtures and fittings. Whilst it seems unlikely that major components such as the waterwheel, drive train, auxiliary drive and stones would have been removed, the survival of more peripheral fixtures and fittings (pulleys, hooks, eyes etc) is less assured. Only internal access could determine levels of survival. However from a brief external inspection it is clear that features such as the large metal framed multi-paned windows of the front elevation, inserted during the 1940s, have been replaced with modern facsimiles although the original board doors remain in situ as decorative features. Present Use: Private residence. Condition: Good. <5> See: <6>