MILLS

MILLS

See Also: BREAD; GRAIN; MENU

The thousands of mills that were referenced in The Domesday Book (1086) were watermills. It was not until the late 12^thC that windmills began to be constructed.

Bread

The British way of milling grains is to grind harder than is generally the case in France. This causes higher levels of starch damage and thus greater water absorption.

The French approach produces softer doughs that are more extensible.

Mills, Disappeared

Albion Mills

Boulton & Watt's Albion.

Location: Blackfriars Bridge, c.SE1 9JH

Millbank

The Millbank mill was owned by Westminster Abbey.

Bentham s Panopticon prison was built on the site. He regarded the facility as being a mill for grinding rogues honest.

Location: 52 Millbank, SW1P 4RG (blue, red)

Ponders End Mill

Wrights of Ponder's End is London's last independent miller.

Location: 6 Wharf Road, Enfield, EN3 4TG

Website: www.wrightsflour.co.uk

Snuff Mills

The River Wandle powered a number of snuff mills that operated on the Morden Park Estate during the 18^th and 19^thCs.

Location: Morden Hall Road, SM4 5JD

See Also: SNUFF

Website: www.nationaltrust.org.uk/morden-hall-park/features/a-history-of-the-snuff-mills-at-morden-hall-park

Tide Mills

See Also: WATER SUPPLY The Chelsea Waterworks

Three Mills

In the 1680s the Three Mills complex on Bow Creek was acquired by the Apsley family, whose surname lives on in Apsley House on Hyde Park Corner.

Peter Lefevre came from a Huguenot background and owned a non-guild bakery in Spitalfields. He bought the site in 1728. Up until then, the facility had been devoted to milling corn. He expanded its operations into brewing beer, raw alcohol distilling, and pig-rearing. The business flourished and became one of the largest production facilities around London. It became one of the Navy Victualling Office's principal suppliers. The House Mill was constructed in 1776.

In 1941 stopped being a working mill.

The Three Mills site was 1966 sold to the G.L.C..

Location: Three Mill Lane, Bromley-by-Bow, E3 3DU

See Also: EGGS & TOMATO AS THE BRIDGE FROM MOTHER S RUIN TO MODERN ISRAEL; TOWNHOUSES An Urban Gentleman

Website: www.housemill.org.uk

The Traditional Cornmillers Guild

The Traditional Cornmillers Guild represents millers that use natural energy and traditional milling techniques.

Website: https://tcmg.org.uk

Windmills

Brixton Windmill

Brixton Windmill was built in 1816. In the 1860s the building up of the neighbourhood decreased the wind that was striking the sails; circa 1870 stopped. The business switched to Mitcham. In 1902 it started milling was gas and electricity. In the mid-1930s it stopped milling. Throughout its working history it was run by the Ashby family.

There were other windmills further up Brixton Hill.

Joshua Ashby the last of the family.

In 2008 the building was owned by Lambeth Council.

Location: 100 Blenheim Gardens, Brixton Hill, SW2 5DA

Website: www.brixtonwindmill.org www.brixtonwindmill.org/category/friends-of-windmill-gardens

Wimbledon Windmill Museum

In 1817 the Manor Court granted Charles March, a carpenter from Roehampton, a plot of land on Wimbledon upon which he was to erect a public windmill that could be used by local people. The structure he erected had an idiosyncratic design.

Location: Windmill Road, Wimbledon, SW19 5NR

Website: www.wimbledonwindmill.org.uk

David Backhouse 2024