Hardingham watermill was situated in a wooded area away from the village to the point where it was actually in the parish of Runhall, as the parish boundary ran up the centre of the river. The mill consisted of two adjoining buildings of different sizes. The larger structure was built of red brick and then weather boarding and a Norfolk pantile roof, while the smaller building was of weatherboarding under a similar type of roof. The mill was rebuilt c.1820 and used three pairs of stones. Both lucums projected an unusually long way out from the building.

Up until about 1912 the watermill was worked in conjunction with the tower_windmill that stood just to the north.

Extensive flour mills at Hardingham occupied by Messrs. Taylor & Tingay were destroyed by fire.
Norfolk Chronicle - 14th November 1835

After the fire of 1835, the mill was rebuilt by millwright and engineer, William_Thorold. He wrote to Roger Micklefield in 1836 - Hardingham Mill lately rebuilt for Messrs. Taylor & Tingay, the new water wheel and important wheel work at Northwold_Mill for Messrs. Cokers whereby three bushels of corn can be ground where one was ground before...

Smithdale's Day Book 1853 - 1856

HARDINGHAM
Sale by J. Standley on Thursday October 4th at Hardingham Mills
Horses, wagons, etc ...
of Tingay & Robertson.
Norfolk Chronicle - 22nd September 1860
(of Tingay & Roberson Norfolk Chronicle - 29th September 1860)

To Millers & Merchants
To be Let with possession at Michaelmas next
The HARDINGHAM WATER & WIND CORN MILLS situate close to the Hardingham Station on the East Dereham Railway, for many years in the occupation of the late John Tingey, Esq.
Apply to Mr. Tingey, Scoulton, Watton.
Norfolk Chronicle - 12th & 19th September 1874

On Tuesday next
HARDINGHAM MILLS
Close to Hardingham Station & within Three Miles of Hingham
Salter & Simpson will Sell by Auction on Tuesday December 22, 1874
The useful HOUSEHOLD FURNITURE for Sitting and Sleeping Rooms, Pianoforte; Kitchen requisites & other Effects, the Property of Mr. Richard Button (who is removing to a distance)
Sale to commence at 12.30
Norfolk News - 19th December 1874

HARDINGHAM
To be Let. With possession at Michaelmas next
The Water & Wind Mills with 40 acres of Arable & Pasture Land situate close to the Hardingham Station on the East Dereham Railway, for many years in the occupation of the late John Tingey, Esq. The Water Mill contains three pairs of stones & the Windmill two pairs.
Apply to George Freestone Esq. Tombland, Norwich.
Norfolk Chronicle - 18th & 25th May 1878

TO BE LET. With possession at Michaelmas next
The WATER & WIND MILLS with 40 acres of Arable & Pasture LAND, situate close to the Hardingham Station on the East Dereham Railway, now in the occupation of Mr. George Coote. The Water Mill contains three Pairs of stones & the Wind_Mill two Pairs.
Apply to George Forrester Esq. Tombland, Norwich.
Norfolk Chronicle - 12th March 1880

TO BE LET. With possession at Michaelmas next
The WATER & WIND MILLS with 40 acres of Arable & Pasture Land, situate close to the HARDINGHAM STATION on the East Dereham Railway, for many years in the occupation of the late John Tingey, Esq. The Water Mill contains three Pairs of stones & the Wind_Mill two Pairs.
Apply to George Forrester Esq. Tombland, Norwich.
Norfolk Chronicle - 5th & 12th June, 3rd & 12th July 1880

Mrs. Emma Elizabeth Allen, Mill House, Hardingham, widow, carrying on the business of miller and farmer charged Harvey Samuel Rudd formerly in her employment as farm manager with theft of £18. 10s. in gold.
Dereham & Fakenham Times - 17th December 1921

For three or four years during the war blackcurrant growers in the area took their crops to Hardingham Mill where Farrows had a steam engine to steam and pulp the fruit. It was then put into barrels and taken to Hardingham Station to be transported to the preserving factories.

In 1966 the mill was purchased by an American film company and was used as one of the locations for the shooting of the film The Shuttered Room starring Oliver Reed and Dame Flora Robson. For the final scenes of the film, the mill was set alight and burnt to the ground.

When it was learnt that the mill was to be destroyed, various people contacted local councils and various newspapers. However, the planning committee was of the opinion that the mill had no architectural merit and would not meet the necessary criteria to become a listed building. Ian Gilmore MP sent an urgent hand delivered letter to Mr. Crossman, Minister of Housing, whose department responded by stating that it was a matter for Norfolk County Council.

OLD MILL FOR BURNING

The derelict Hardingham Mill, which straddles the River Yare and has not been used for about 30 years, is to end its days in a blaze of Technicolor glory. A film unit started shooting on location there yesterday for some of the main sequences for "The Shuttered Room," a highly dramatic thriller which is supposed to be set on an island off the coast of New England. In the final sequence, which will probably be filmed early next week, the mill is burnt down and as it is half brick and half timber, with some massive beams inside, it should make a spectacular blaze.

The road that runs in front of the mill has been closed to traffic since last December when part of the bridge collapsed. Whether the bridge should be repaired or the road closed permanently is something at the moment in dispute. The mill itself belongs to Mr. C.L. Banham, a Runhall farmer, but the ownership of the bridge is in dispute. Norfolk County Council considers that it not owned by any local authority.

Starring in the film are Dame Flora Robson, Gig Young, the American star of the TV series "The Rogues," Carol Lynley, a young actress who has featured in a number of major productions, and Oliver Reed, the British actor who has made an impact in "heavy" roles.

Miss Lynley, Mr. Young and Mr. Reed were busy at Hardingham yesterday and Dame Flora will arrive later in the week. Mr. Reed had just finished a scene on an island in the mill pond, during which he was giving forceful attention to Miss Lynley, when a reporter talked to him. He said he had just finished making a film in Canada with Rita Tushington in which he played a French Canadian and in this current picture he played an American fisherman. "After this I have a part as a typical public-school type and it will be a relief to be an Englishman again," he added. Mr. Young has not filmed in England before and he was delighted with the setting at Hardingham.

The director of the film is David Greene, who has made a reputation in television in Britain and America, but whose first feature film this is. He was forced to work very fast to finish one scene yesterday when the water in the mill pond started to rise and flood the island on which they were working. The mill has a starring part in the film, too. It is here that the sinister "shuttered room" holds its secrets, it is here that a body falls from the trapdoor in one of the grain hoists and it is here that the climax of the fire occurs. The film is being made by Troy-Schenck Productions Ltd. for Seven Arts. The producer is Phillip Hazelton.
Eastern Daily Press - 24th May 1966

Sir,
As director of the film, I was responsible for ordering the burning of the old mill at Hardingham, Norfolk. This mill was quite without architectural interest, had not been occupied for 40 years, and was so dangerously dilapidated that the road past it was closed to traffic as unsafe.
Its outer appearance was grim and forbidding, and the photographs published in the newspapers all showed it artificially beautified by my film art department, with false windows, doors, shutters, & c.
It was these photographs which roused the indignation of the rural preservationists, who had never previously taken the slightest interest in the place!
Yours sincerely,
David Green.
The Times - 6th June 1966

When I visited the site on 27th February 1977, apart from the foundations, all that remained were scattered bricks and rubble, the decaying remains of one French burr stone and a pile of charred beams.
Jonathan Neville

The nearby mill house, originally built of brick in 1835, now has a modern but sympathetically designed white weatherboarded extension.

Thomas Allen born 3rd October 1831, was the eldest son of Bryant Granger Allen and Mary Allen (née Mary Ramm) of Norwich. The 1851 census shows that Bryant Allen was then 44 years old and working as a dyer, living in Norwich with Mary, who was 43. 19 year old Thomas, who had 4 brothers and two sisters, was working as a clerk.

On 13th November 1852, Thomas Allen became a Freeman of Norwich and at this time he was working as an accountant. Thomas married Elizabeth Burton at Thorpe St Andrew on 30th December 1856. By 1881 Thomas, at the age of 49, had become a Norwich corn merchant and also the miller at Hardingham. Elizabeth who was 45, was living with him and they had four children - Sidney Granger (11), Mary (9), Lee (6) and Ernest (4), all of whom were born in Norwich. At this time the Allen's were living at Scoles Green, Norwich along with three staff. Francis N. Palmer (20) was clerk to Thomas, Emily Freeman (65) was housekeeper and Martha Aldis (16) was a servant.

Thomas Allen died on 20th October 1892 and was buried in Rosary Road cemetary in Norwich. It appears that his son Lee then took over the running of Hardingham Mill while Sidney took over the running of the Norwich side of the business at Quayside mill and 110 Corn Exchange.

The family business of RWB Page was started in the early 1920's by Bertha Page, the great grandmother of the current Managing Director of Allen & Page. Sidney Allen's Quayside Mill site in Norwich was purchased by RWB Page in 1936 and the companies then merged to become Allen & Page. The company still provides high quality specialist horse feeds to this day, operating from Shipdham.

I have just read your pages on Hardingham Mill with great fondness and memories.  I frequently played at the Mill as a young child with my sister as we lived just along the road into Runhall at the Black Horse.  We would often walk to Mill and take our little fishing net and try to catch tiddlers in the stream. Things were very different then and we often talk about how our mother let us walk there alone and play next to the quite dangerous millpond and derelict building.  There was a very strange man living in the Mill House at the time too, Kenny New.  We once had to knock on his door as one of us had fell and cut our knee, or something.  He asked us to wait in the doorway and all I remember was a table piled high with egg shells and a floor covered in newspapers!  He was a harmless man and we would see him walk past our house every week on his journey to collect eggs from the farm.

However, my greatest memories and excitement come form when the 'film stars' came to the Mill and we would go and join them every afternoon for tea after school.  We were so excited, my sister Lesley was 9 and I was 7. It was less that a quarter of a mile from our house and we would walk there after school.  In those days there was no traffic and anyway the road would have been closed off because of the filming.  My mother would stay at home looking after our younger sister who was only 3.

The most vivid memory I have though is of the day the Mill was actually burnt down.  We were allowed to go and watch from the next field. My Dad took Lesley and I to watch and my mother stood in our field at the back our our house and held my younger sister, Gillian, up to watch from there.  I can still feel the heat of the fire now on my face.  We stood some 400-800 yds away at a guess and the fire was so fierce and hot it made it such a memorable day.  It was a very exciting experience for everyone in the village and especially for us, two very young children who felt we had had some involvement with the film.

At the time we didn't own a camera so didn't have any photographs but we did get all of the 'stars' autographs.  Unfortunately, those have now been lost.  My father was a great one for having bonfires and burning what he considered to be old rubbish.  Once I went out to see one of my old toys melting in the flames, I was devastated but he would quite logically say that I hadn't played with it for years so wouldn't need it any more.  I often wonder if that is what happened to my autograph book, if so what a fitting end to it.  Luckily the memories are still there especially whenever I watch the film and more so looking the the photographs on your web site.

Thank you for putting such a lovely site together and I hope my little story of our involvement has added a bit more background to the information you have.  Do let me know if I can help with any other information etc.  My mother says the film stars stayed locally at the farmers house, and her knowledge and memories of those details are much greater than mine.
Jackie Goddard - 13th January 2011

A few years ago I was trying to find out the locations used for the film The Shuttered Room, as I had read from a movie review book that some of the scenes were filmed on the Cornish coast.
After searching for the film details on "Google," just the name of Hardingham, in Norfolk came up under film location. Although I had visited Norfolk on a number of occasions, I had not heard of this village, so I then entered Hardingham onto the internet search engine and came across your excellent web-site.
A few months later when I was in the area, I thought that I would pay a visit to Hardingham and find the spot where the mill once stood. On arrival, I walked onto the road bridge, leaned over the rail and looked down at the mill pond. I found that the spot still generated the odd memory from the film, and I remember wondering years before .... "I don't think that's a film prop, it looks like a real building on fire!"
As I stood there the only sound was the water flowing beneath me. It was strange to think that this area was a hive of activity for a short time years ago, with film crews and big screen actors.
It was nice to see that the area had not been built on or changed in any way, and only nature had taken over.
Phillip Jeffery, Cardiff - 7th June 2011

My name is John Wernham, and for a hobby I write stories and poems. After seeing the sad fate of Hardingham Mill on your very interesting web site, and seeing the film `The Shuttered Room`. I decided to pay a visit to this sad site of deliberate destruction by a US film company of a piece of Norfolk Water Mill history, just to make a horror film. I was saddened by what I saw of all that was left, just a few bricks. So I sat down there and then and wrote a poem of the sad fate of this old Mill.  This poem was, last year, read out at the end of a showing of `The Shuttered Room` at the Regent Cinema in Wymondham, Norfolk. (Just a few miles from Hardingham.)  Which was a local afternoon`s history lesson, that told the sad story of this deliberate burning down of this old Mill to make this film.
John Wernham - 24th January 2015

The Sad Fate of Hardingham Water Mill

Thomas Warren's map 1766: Two watermills and one postmill shown

Faden's map 1797: Watermill

1820: Mill and windmill were rebuilt

1820: James Smith, miller also at Hardingham towermill

1820: James Smith bankrupt

June & November 1820: Windmilll & watermill advertised to be let

January 1822: Windmilll & watermill advertised to be let

Pigot's 1830: James Smith & Son, (William) corn millers, HARDINGHAM MILL

1834: Smith & Son

November 1835: Mill destroyed by fire

1836: Mill rebuilt by William Thorold, millwright

White's 1836: Tingay & Taylor, millers

White's 1845: Taylor & Tingey, corn millers

Kelly's 1846: Taylor & Tingey, millers (owned by Rt. Hon. Lord Wodehouse)

Hunt's 1850: Tingey & Roberson

Slater's 1850: Tingay & Robinson

1853: Tingey & Roberson, farmers & merchants, also at Barnham Broom

February 1853: Repairs carried out by Smithdale & Co at a cost of £3.0.0.

White's 1854: Thomas Denny, foreman miller

31st May 1857: William Smith, son of Jeremiah Smith, miller, married

Kelly's 1858: Tingay & Roberson

1853: Tingey & Roberson, farmers & merchants, also at Barnham Broom

White's 1854: Thomas Denny, foreman miller

September 1860: Horses, wagons etc of Tingay & Roberson advertised for sale

Harrod's 1863: John Tingey

Harrod's 1872: John Tingey

May 1872: John Tingey conceded 1d. per hour overtime to millers at Hardingham & Lt. Ellingham

c.1874: John Tingey died

September 1874: Windmilll & watermill advertised to be let

1874: George Coote, miller

December 1874: Household effects of Richard Button advertised for sale by auction

1874: George Coote, miller

Post Office Directory 1875: George Coote, also at Marlingford

May 1878: Windmilll & watermill advertised to be let

Kelly's 1879: George Coote, miller, Hardingham mills

March 1880: Windmilll & watermill advertised to be let in the occupation of George Coote

1880: George Coote, miller

June 1880: Windmill & watermill advertised to be let

Kelly's 1883: Thomas Allen, miller (water), Hardingham mills; & at Norwich

White's 1883: ? Lemon, mill manager

Kelly's 1890: Thomas Allen, coal, corn, cake, seed etc merchant, Quay Side and 110 Corn Exchange and Hardingham, Yarmouth & Dereham, h. 32 All Saints Green

Kelly's 1892: Thomas Allen (exors. of), millers (water & wind), Hardingham mills

Kelly's 1896: Thomas Allen (exors. of), millers (water & wind), Hardingham mills
Kelly's 1896: Lee Allen, millers' manager, Hardingham mills

Kelly's 1900: Thomas Allen (exors. of), millers (water & wind), Hardingham mills
Kelly's 1900: Lee Allen, millers' manager, Hardingham mills

Census 1901: Lee Allen (29) b. Norwich, miller & merchant

Kelly's 1916: Mrs Lee Allen, miller (water) Hardingham mills

1921: Mrs. Emma Elizabeth Allen miller & farmer

Kelly's 1922: Richard Long, miller (water) & corn & flour dealer, Hardingham mills

Kelly's 1925: Richard Long, miller (water) & corn & flour dealer, Hardingham mills

Kelly's 1929: Richard Long, miller (water) & corn & flour dealer, Hardingham mills

Kelly's 1933: Richard Long, miller (water), Hardingham mills

Kelly's 1933: Richard Long, miller (water), Hardingham mills

1948: R.J. Seaman

c.1950: Claude Banham

1966: Claude Leonard Banham, farmer at Runhall

30th May 1966: Mill burnt to the ground for the film The Shuttered Room

1970: New bridge built to replace mill bridge and road reopened

c.2000: Mill house advertised for sale by Jackson-Stops & Staff for offers in the region of £425,000

2002: Mill house under new ownership