Hockwold still had two watermills in the first half of the 1800s - an upper mill and a lower mill.

Copy of estimate by John Richardson, millwright, for repairs to Upper Mill in Hockwold District and Lower_Mill in the Second District [both watermills]
Two documents re Estate of the Bank of England in Hockwold, Lakenheath and Feltwell - 1829

Vouchers, receipts etc. re estate expenses inc. carpenters' bills for repairs to watermills, receipts for payment of rates etc.
Documents re Estate of the Bank of England in Hockwold, Lakenheath and Feltwell held at NRO

Drainage mills were often called "water mills", or "water engines", and many of them had two or more names including the "Upper" or "Lower" mills. This makes drainage and other mills research interesting as do especially the social aspects.
These two mills were used for draining the 2nd district of drainage in Feltwell and Hockwold. This was part of a drainage scheme for Feltwell, Methwold, and Hockwold under an Act of Parliament of 1773. Both mills were located on the north side of the River Lark. The Lower Mill (nearest the sea), or Feltwell Mill was at the end of the Commissioners Drain. The Upper Mill actually stood in a small part of Lakenheath that was extra-parochial and this was the Hockwold Mill. There were also two smaller private mills in this district. They were all made redundant after a steam engine was built in 1838. The Richardson's of Feltwell were millwrights involved in repairing these mills between the 1790's and 1838. Some of my family may also have been involved with the mills as they also built, moved, and repaired many mills in this region between the 1750's and 1830's.
Peter Filby - 15th February 2008

Copyright © Jonathan Neville 2008