Norfolk Mills - Hellesdon watermill

Few people now living in Hellesdoncan remember Hellesdon Mill as it was in the early years of the twentieth century.
This watermill which stood on the River Wensum at Hellesdon, was one of the most impressive in Norfolk. It was built on a timber frame let into brick foundations. The frame was covered externally with weather-boarding and the roof had slate tiles.
The mill was four storeys high, and set in the south side of the buildings were 66 windows. There were four waterways beneath it.
The following historical account of Hellesdon Mills is based on estate documents, letters, and newspaper reports.
According to the Domesday Survey of 1086 there were two mills at Hailesduna, just as there had been in Saxon times. Throughout the medieval period mills continued to operate on the river at Hellesdon. In 1228, Reginald, the Abbot of St. Benets at Holm, had the "New Mill" and the use of the mill pool and island.
The last known reference to the mills in operation appeared in a letter dated October 21st, 1460, from Margaret Paston to hwer husband William, "Item your myllys in Heylysdon be late for xij marke and the myller to fynde the reparacion."
By the middle of the sixteenth centuryo nly the mill dam remained. A Charter of Philip and Mary, dated July 2nd, 1556, stated that the county and city boundary led from Hellesdon bridge to the old dam of the late watermill of "Heilesdon." It is possible that the mills ceased to operateas the result of a feud lasting several years between the Paston family and the Duke of Suffolk. Manufacturing
Estate documents show that these early mills were corn fulling mills. This meant that apart from grinding corn they were used to carry out the manufacture of woollen goods. Cloth straight from the loom was washed and cleansed of dirt and grease. This program thickened the fibres and induced them to felt. Many town weavers sent their cloths to country mills to escape both guild and borough control.
Hellesdon was without a watermill for about two hundred years. Then in 1683, William Gostlin of Woolverstone Park, Suffolk, leased an estate in Hellesdon from the lord of the manor, the Bishop of Norwich. Gostlin sought permission from the Bishop to build a mill at Hellesdon. At first the Bishop was reluctant to give permission because he thought that a mill at Hellesdon would hinder the Norwich mills. However, Augustine Lowe, Gostlin's bailiff at Hellesdon, informed that old papers existed relating to mills that had formerly stood on the river at Hellesdon. The Bishop then gave permission for a watermill to be built. Eventually Gostlin appointed a man to build the mill for him. It was decided to build it with timber and tarras. Tarras was a mortar or cement which was used to cover or lay with plaster. According to Lowe, tarras was very hard-wearing and the more they used the less timber would be necessary. It was estimated that it would take forty or more bushels of tarras to build the mill at a cost of four shillings a bushel and two shillings and sixpence for its carriage.
Year to build
Some timber was cut in Hellesdon to build the mill, the remainder was purchased elsewhere. In May 1683, Lowe bought twenty jambs of timber at a cost one pound each. The mill took nearly a year to build and began operating in June 1684. It was built over the river on the site once occupied by the ancient mills. The mill and mill house were built under the same roof, and the foundations consisted of wooden frames which were situated below the water level. In 1719 when a millwright was employed by Charles Gostlin to carry out renovations on the mill, these frames were in such a bad state of repair, that all the timber which had been felled locally to complete the renovations had to be used to support the biggest frame. Additional timber had to be purchased to complete the work. At this time a new mill house was built apart from the mill itself at the cost of £140.
Destroyed
At first the mill ground corn and did some fulling work, but later it produced oil.
Early on Sunday morning, April 28th 1805, a fire broke out at the mill. It was first discovered about one o'clock and in one and a half hours the mill was destroyed except for a small part of the west end which was under repair. This part contained a quantity of oil and the flames were prevented from reaching it by cutting away the timbers. The mill, which was occupied by William Parkinson, sustained damage estimated at three to four thousand pounds of which only twelve hundred pounds was insured with the Norwich fire Office. The mill was eventually rebuilt for all its different branches of business.
In January 1848 William Wells, a miller, purchased the mill at Hellesdon from the Rev. Henry Berners of Woolverstone Park. By June 1851, Wells had reconstructed and refitted the mill and mill house. In addition he had erected dwelling houses, cottages, warehouses, stables, drying kilns, blacksmith's and carpenter's shops, offices and other buildings for the purpose of his business as miller. Hellesdon mill was now one of the most impressive mills in Norfolk. It was built on a timber frame let into brick foundations. The frame was covered externally with weather-boarding, and the roof had slate tiles. The mill was four storeys high and set in the south side were 66 windows. There were four waterways beneath it.
Pulled down
The mill at Hellesdon was pulled down in 1920. The reason for this was shown by the following statement made at the meeting of Norwich City Council on May 18th on that year. "A commencement has been made in taking down Hellesdon Mill which consists chiefly of thoroughly good timber which will be used for housing at Angel Estate." Today all that remains of the mill at Hellesdon are the brick foundations with the four waterways and a small part of the eastern end of the mill. By the 1950's this building had had much of its weather boarding replaced by corrugated asbestos and was in a general state of disrepair. However, in recent years it has been thoroughly renovated and is now used as a dwelling house. At the south eastern end of the mill pool a large mill-stone, about six feet in diameter with a hole approximately a foot square through the centre, protrudes from the mud, a relic of former days. The malthouse and granary building exist, but are no longer used for the purposes for which they were built. A very different scene to that which was familiar to Hellesdon people at the turn of the century.
K. Hipper, Eastern Evening News - Monday 27th November 1972


c.1895	Dredging at the rear of the mill in 1896 by James Hobrough & Son


Mill site June 1968	The granary with the maltings behind 18th May 1999


c.1890	Hand coloured postcard c.1908


1951	1969


c.1960	30th September 2002