Late 19th century water mill, Langford Mill, Chelmer and Blackwater Navigation (EHER 40154)

A mill built in 1879 on the site of a previous mill built 1776 which was destroyed by fire. There has been a mill here since at least 1587. The present mill was in use until after the First World War when plans to convert it into a roller mill failed and the building was purchased by the Essex Water Company. In 1924 the mill machinery was removed and a large extraction pump inserted, resulting in the remodelling of the interior. The building is still owned by Essex and Suffolk Water, who maintain an extraction pump on the ground floor, but the rest of the building is not in use. The present mill was designed by Frederick Chancellor and is of four and half storeys and five bays. The lower two storeys are of red brick and the upper are of yellow brick panels with red brick pilasters. The gable roof has a slate covering. The mill had a range to the west, linked by a footbridge, which was probably a survival from the original mill that burnt down. The range is no longer extant and both wheels have been removed, although the wheel pit is visible at the west gable end. The mill was assessed for listing in 2009 but failed to meet the required criteria.

1998-1999. Chelmer and Blackwater Navigation Survey. Four storeys, lower two in red brick, upper two in yellow stock brick with red pilasters. There are road-side (south elevation) 'taking-in' doors and a projecting lucam attic (wood) fifth storey. There is a terracotta date stone at high level '1897'. The mill appears on 1st-4th editions Ordnance Survey maps. <1> 2007-2008. Survey of Water and Steam Mills in Essex. Nicholas Westcombe rebuilt Langford Mill in 1776, a short time before 1792 when he embarked on an extensive engineering project involving the construction of an artificial cut, Westcombe's Cut, from Langford to join with the River Chelmer and thus provide navigable access to his newly rebuilt mill (EHER 40151). The Navigation's Long Cut (EHER 15085), which joined the Chelmer to the Blackwater rivers east of Beeleigh Lock rendered the southern end of Westcombe's Cut redundant and subsequently much acrimonious correspondence was exchanged between the navigation company and Mr Westcombe. In 1811 Jonathan Stammers (of Stammers Farm) leased the mill from John Westcombe, although by 1838 John Piggott had taken over the lease. Langford Mill was described in contemporary accounts as ‘a very fine mill, with ten pairs of stones working six or four, a 22ft, 9ft wide waterwheel, 10ft fall of water and a navigation and wharf. The mill continued to be worked by John Piggot and Son who traded in fertiliser guano, rape cake, linseed oil, coal and also owned Paper Mill (EHER 40065), Little Baddow Mill (EHER 40048) and a wharf at Springfield until 1870. After 1870 Frank Tew Cantrell (also of Paper Mill) bought the mill from Lady Byron of Langford Manor. This five storey water and steam mill was destroyed by fire in March 1879 but was rebuilt in brick and slate to designs prepared by Fredric Chancellor by the end of the same year. The present mill bears the date 1879. The last working barge carrying wheat up the cut to the mill was in 1881 but it continued under Edward Lee Baker and then Bradbury and Bryant up to the First World War supplying flour to a large London baker. After the war there were plans to convert it to a roller mill but the owners Tucker and Galleon failed and the mill was purchased by the Essex Water Company who still own it (as Essex and Suffolk Water) to this day. In 1924 the Essex Water Company removed the mill machinery to install a large extraction pump and it is now mainly used as a store. The Langford or Westcombe Cut terminus (EHER 40151) remains extant to the south of the mill although the survival of any associated wharf structures remains unclear without further investigation. To the SW of the mill is the 19th century Mill Cottage (EHER 40153) and to the east Mill Mansion or Mill House (EHER 38961), a three storey 17th century house with an 18th-19th century façade, now used as a residential nursing home. The present Langford Mill was built in the later 19th century and is a robust brick-built mill with rather plain elevations and a slate covered gable ended roof. It is a five-bay mill and built over 4½ storeys with red brick used for the lower two storeys and yellow brick for the upper storeys and gable ends. Red brick external strip pilasters are spaced at bay intervals and red brick floor and eaves bands criss-cross the yellow brickwork of the upper walls. Contrasting red brickwork is also used in the segmental rough brick arches of the window apertures of the upper windows, although this theme of contrasting brickwork is not repeated in the window heads of the lower walls. The brickwork throughout is laid in English bond. Window apertures are evenly spaced at one per bay across and either side of a central tier of taking-in doors at first and second floors. Windows were not included at third floor level as this floor was used for grain storage, although smaller windows and bulls-eye windows in the gable apex were included to light the attic storey for loading the bins. Central to the roof and directly above the taking-in doors is a large weatherboarded gable ended lucam, cantilevered out from eaves level and supported from beneath by timber knees. Directly below the lucam is a terracotta date plaque reading 1879. The windows are all replacement modern late 20th century units replicating a multi-pane casement and the doors are simple vertical boarded doors which may be original. A departure from the symmetrical nature of the mill occurs in the rear NE bay which continues above the eaves line to form a tower-like structure capped by a fully hipped roof. It is likely this structure formerly held a header tank for the steam powered apparatus and/or accommodated an elevator loft. Although both waterwheels have been removed, the external wheel pit remains along the western gable end wall. Lined out in blue engineering bricks, the wheel pit still receives water from the mill leat but via a modern drainage pipe which skirts around the mill to the north. The tail water runs through a brick culvert that extends below the road and rejoins the Langford Cut some 130m to the south. The bulk of the river water is now directed away from the mill and back into the natural course of the river, which runs to the west, via a weir sited at a short distance to the north. It is presently used for storage and is in good condition. Langford Mill survives as one of only two complete mills designed and built by Fredrick Chancellor and Son. Although its significance has been compromised by the removal of its milling technology (as have many listed mills), the building has not suffered unduly from modern accretions and retains an distinct architectural integrity and readability. It also forms part of a small group of historic industrial buildings and monuments in Langford, including the scheduled Langford Pumping Station (EHER X), Langford Mill House (EHER 38961), Mill Cottage (EHER 40153) and the important Langford Cut (EHER 40149). <2> May 2009. No List Case: 167591/506422. A mill has stood on the site since before 1776, when documentary evidence states that Nicholas Westcombe rebuilt the mill and constructed an artificial cut from Langford to the river Chelmer. This five storey water and steam mill was destroyed by fire in March 1879, but was rebuilt to the designs of Frederick Chancellor, the noted Chelmsford architect, by the end of the same year. The mill, with two wheels, continued to function until after World War One, when plans to convert it to a roller mill failed and the building was purchased by the Essex Water Company. In 1924, the mill machinery was removed and a large extraction pump inserted, resulting in the remodelling of the interior and insertion of double doors on the ground floor. The building is still owned by Essex and Suffolk Water, who maintain an extraction pump on the ground floor, but the rest of the building is not in use. Comparison with historic Ordnance Survey maps of 1875 (before the current mill was built) 1897 and 1922 indicate that the mill had a range to the west, linked by a footbridge over the wheel pit. This is not explicitly shown in Chancellor's drawings for the mill, suggesting that it was a part of the earlier mill which survived the fire. This range is no longer extant and both wheels have been removed, although the wheel pit is visible at the west gable end. In the last 10 years or so, the sash windows have been replaced with uPVC fenestration and the distinctive lucam on the facade has been entirely rebuilt using plastic, weatherboard-type cladding. The building is a four and half storey mill of five bays, constructed 1879, probably for Frank Tew Cantrell and designed by Frederick Chancellor. The lower two storeys are of red brick, the upper of yellow brick panels with red brick pilasters and moulded brick string courses. The gable roof has a slate covering. The façade has an inserted 20th century double door at ground floor with central taking-in doors at first and second floors. Above is a moulded brick date plaque (carved 1879) on the third floor and a central weatherboarded lucam supported on brackets and rebuilt in the late 20th century, projects from the attic storey. All the fenestration is uPVC with shallow arched segmental brick heads. The rear elevation is similarly detailed, but at the NW corner a yellow brick lift tower with red brick dressings projects from the roof line. The central panels of the fourth and attic floors of the east and west elevations are in red brick, with a pair of casements and a bulls-eye window in the apex of the west elevation and casements and a moulded brick panel in the east. The wheel-pit is located next to the west elevation and is constructed of red and blue engineering bricks. The mill race is no longer open, but water piped from the river runs through the pit, beneath the road to the cut. Each floor is supported on timber columns with brackets. Part of the first floor has been removed to accommodate the head gear for the 1924 extraction pump supported on concrete plinths inserted through the ground floor. Parts of the first, second and third floor have been removed around the lift tower. Replaced floorboards on all floors indicate positions of machinery, of which nothing remains except for some ventilation grilles and hoses from the lift tower and parts of the grain hoppers in the attic. There are some in situ doors. On the third and fourth floor walls, some numbers and writing were observed, but these seem to relate to the operation of the mill rather than graffiti from World War Two prisoners, as has been suggested. The queen post roof trusses remain, but in the late 20th century the lucam has been completely rebuilt with modern timber and plastic cladding. Without doubt, Langford Mill has local interest and contributes to the character and appearance of the Chelmer and Blackwater Conservation Area, but unfortunately it has been too altered to meet the criteria for listing buildings of this date and type. <3> September 2021. Watching brief. The archaeological watching brief recorded a concrete foundation/plinth thought to correspond to a former mill building, constructed in 1879 and demolished in the mid 20th century. It is uncertain whether this feature may represent the original foundation of the mill building wall or a modern capping of the foundation below. The plinth/foundation was sealed by a modern consolidation deposit which extended across the majority of the stripped area. Gravels, which may represent re-deposited natural river terrace gravels, or potentially the interface between the topsoil and the natural geology were recorded at 0.48m below ground level. <4> There is a documentary reference to a miller in Langford as early as 1587 and there is also mention of two watermills in 1648. The location of the mills is unknown, however an earlier watermill was demolished by Nicholas Westcombe in 1766 and a new, modernised mill was built in place of it. It was a large, weatherboarded building with 10 pairs of stones and one waterwheel. Between 1812 and 1870 the mill was worked by John Piggott (of Ulting). There is a record of ‘flour and corn granaries at the head of the wharf near the mill’ and it seemed the mill was fairly prosperous. By 1870 it was a steam and water plant and was sold by Piggot. It is described as being ‘at rest’ in 1872-1874 and ‘silent’ in 1882. It was destroyed in a fire in 1879 and rebuilt in brick, designed by F. Chancellor, and, unusually, had two external wheels. It continued in use until after the First World War when the owners failed in their attempts to convert it to a roller mill. It was purchased by the Essex Water Company in 1924 who removed the machinery and installed an extraction pump as part of the works for the new water pumping station. <5> Langford Mill (disused) [NAT]. <6> (SIC). Built 1880s. A four-storey brick and slated water and steam mill with hoist loft, built on site of earlier mill gutted 1879. Once had two external wheels on opposite sides of the building. Machinery removed 1924. Now owned by water company. <7> Original HER entry merged with NRHE data import.