Narborough Bone Mill was built in the early 19th century about 1½ miles downstream from Narborough Corn Mill. The fact that it was not near a road did not matter as both its raw materials and its finished products were carried by horse drawn barge.

The mill converted bones from local slaughterhouses, Kings Lynn's whaling industry and Hamburg's cemeteries into agricultural fertilizer. The smell of the production process must have been distinctive and may well be part of the reason for the mill's chosen remote location.

The mill probably ceased production a few years after the Nar Valley Drainage Board purchased the navigation rights and subsequently built a sluice that prevented further river traffic around 1884.

The 16 foot waterwheel remained in place for many years and the site underwent lottery assisted restoration in 2015.

Please note:
Access to the Bone Mill site is only possible during open days or by appointment.
The land surrounding the site and the river bank paths to the site are on private land and are also used by members of a private fishing club.
However, you can walk along the opposite river bank which is a public footpath and part of the Nar Valley Way.  In Narborough, you access the start of the footpath via River Close.

King’s Lynn relied heavily for a time on the whaling trade, a trade which brought a great deal of prosperity to the town, but which was also very risky.  In 1775 the old Blubber house was built at Blubberhouse Creek. Horses towed the ships up the Nar to the site where the houses were.
 
From here the bones were transported to Narborough bone mill where the jawbones of the whale were ground down to make fertilizer. This trade dramatically declined in 1820 and as a consequence of this the bone mill had to depend on local farms and slaughter houses for raw materials. The decline was due to the increase in gas lighting as well as competition from Hull, Grimsby and London and the abolition of the encouraging bounty.
Mildred Cookson, The Mills Archive Trust - 23rd August 2021

Narborough Bone Mill History (1) - David Turner

In 1751 plans were made to make the river Nar navigable from King's Lynn to Westacre. The requisite Act was passed before Parliament the same year, but it was not until 1759 that the first horse-drawn barges struggled up the river with their cargoes of coal and grain, and then only as far as Narborough. Water trade increased steadily over the years and received a boost when the Bone Mill was built, about a mile and a half downstream from Narborough. The mill, which is thought to date from the early nineteenth century, was owned from about 1830 by the Marriott brothers, who also built the Narborough Maltings and held the navigation rights. At the time of writing there is not much left to see, but the splendid cast-iron waterwheel, which generated the power for a thriving business in agricultural fertiliser, has so far resisted all attempts to shift it.

Roughly crushed bones were used to renovate pastures in Britain in the late eighteenth century, but their action on the land was slow. By 1820 almost every major East Coast port had access to one or more crushing mills. White's Norfolk Directory for 1836 indicates that John Marsters and Company worked a bone mill at the Boal Wharf in King's Lynn, and with the Narborough Mill, produced the finely ground bone meal which proved to be more beneficial for East Anglian soils.

In the early days of the Narborough Bone Mill a steady supply of whalebone came up river by barge from the blubber processing factory at Lynn. The sacks of bone meal were shipped back to Lynn, Cambridge and further afield. No whaling ships left Lynn after 1821, so the mill had to rely partly on collections made by 'bone wagon' from local farms and slaughterhouses. Villagers would sometimes take down "a penn'orth of bones to be ground" and supplies also came from North Germany. Shiploads arriving at Lynn would sometimes include the exhumations of burial grounds, but it is unlikely that anyone questioned the ethics of this, for it was said at the time that "one ton of German bone-dust saves the importation of ten tons of German corn". Details of the reduction process used at the mill are not known, but it is likely that the bones were first boiled to make them brittle and to remove the fat (skimmed off, perhaps, for use as coach and cart grease), then either chopped up by axes or put through toothed cylinders which gradually reduced the bones to small pieces. Finally, the millstones ground them into powder.

After the Lynn and Dereham railway opened in 1846-7, the bone meal was transported up river to the Narborough Maltings, where the barges unloaded at the staithe. Most of the sacks of meal were then taken by horse-drawn wagons along the quarter mile of track to Narborough and Pentney station. From there it went to King's Lynn by train, but some was sold at the Maltings to local farmers, probably at the 'bone shed' marked on an old plan of the buildings there.

The Bone Mill was built in a very isolated position, but the site must have been carefully chosen to obtain maximum efficiency for the working of the low-breast wheel. A stanch gate had been in existence since the river was made navigable, but this was probably replaced when the mill was built. At the same time, sixty yards upstream, a pair of mitre gates was added in the interests of the mill, creating a kind of pound lock between the two stanches. The mill race was taken directly from this partly walled chamber. The addition of the mitre gates was necessary in order to prevent the whole 1,100 yard stretch of river up the next stanch (Narborough Lower Stanch) being emptied each time a barge passed through the Bone Mill stanches. If this had happened, the wheel would have been put out of action until the water level built up again.

The Nar navigation enterprise was abandoned in 1884 and the Bone Mill must have ceased production soon after. It is possible that barges continued to take bone meal from the mill up to the Maltings for a few years, as the mill was not entirely dependent on supplies coming from King's Lynn. It does seem, however, that the Maltings was taking over in the fertiliser business, for Kelly's Norfolk Directory for 1900 lists 'chemical manures' as one of a number of products coming from the yards, then owned by Vynne and Everett.

For several years the disused buildings of the Bone Mill remained, a forbidden playground to local children. The main building was largely intact in 1915, for a Narborough lady remembers climbing to the top that year for the view across Marham Fen. The buildings were demolished bit by bit over the next few years. The machinery went to scrap and most of the rubble was put down on farm tracks. Whenever work was slack at the Maltings a couple of men were sent down the river bank to pull down some more. Mr. Jack Bland (93), whose father-in-law worked at the mill, recalls how he cleaned and carted a load of the bricks to rebuild part of a wall round what is now the Narborough Pottery. He remembers, too, when several rotting barges were hauled out of the river in the 1940s. One of the barges had become so firmly embedded in the bank that trees grew out of it and it could not be removed. The barest remains of this barge, a few slivers of wood and the odd nail, can just be discerned at the fork where the stream from the old Narborough Corn Mill enters the main river course flowing from the Maltings.

Nature has reclaimed the area where the Bone Mill once stood, with head-high nettles in summer and a thick tangle of brambles. Amongst the rubble may be seen bits of pantiles and slate, some bent tie-bars and three half buried millstones (others ended up in pieces on garden rockeries). The water swirls against the remains of the wall of the main mill building and the buff brick stanch walls are slowly crumbling away. The foundations are traceable and an underground tunnel, possibly an overflow channel which ran under the mill, may be investigated. The site and the river bank up to the Maltings are privately owned, but there is a public footpath along the opposite bank. It is worth the walk from the village to see the sixteen foot diameter waterwheel, which has a reassuring indestructibility about it. The date and maker's name must be on the section now under hard-packed debris, the last revolution of the wheel having left this piece of information inaccessible.
Narborough Bone Mill by David Turner - TF 732125
(Taken from the journal of the Norfolk Industrial Archaeology Society, Vol. 3, No. 1, 1981)

Narborough Bone Mill History (2) - David Turner

Although the River Nar was diverted slightly during the Middle Ages, it followed much of   the same natural route as it always had. Unlike other navigable rivers in this area, it did not have a major influence on local trade, and it has never been used by pleasure craft. This is mainly because it runs into the River Great Ouse on the tidal stretches of that navigation.

However, in 1751 plans were drawn up to make the River Nar navigable from its outflow at King’s Lynn upstream to Westacre. To overcome the Nar’s changing water levels, the navigation would rely on ten single-gate sluices alongside one pen-sluice (pound lock). Each sluice would control water flow and allowed barges to step up or down the gradient in measured stages.

That same year, the requisite Act was passed before Parliament, but it was not until 1759 that the first horse-drawn barges struggled up the river with their cargoes of coal and grain, and then only as far as Narborough. However once operational, water trade did increase steadily over the years with the Nar navigation gradually boosting local industries - milling, maltings and even bone-meal production - by providing a direct link for heavy cargoes into East Anglia. This was when the immediate area received a further boost when the Narborough Bone Mill was built - about a mile and a half downstream from the village.

The mill, which is thought to date from the early 19TH-century, was owned from about 1830 by the Marriott brothers, who also built the Narborough Maltings and held the navigation rights. When this article was first written there is not much left to see, except the splendid cast-iron waterwheel, which had generated the power for what had been a thriving business in agricultural fertiliser; for many years, that waterwheel had resisted all attempts to shift it.

In Britain, up to and during the late 18th-century, roughly crushed bones were used to revitalize pastures, but its action on the land was slow. By 1820 almost every major East Coast port had access to one or more crushing mills. White's Norfolk Directory for 1836 indicates that John Marsters and Company worked a bone mill at the Boal Wharf in King's Lynn, which, together with the Narborough Mill, was to produce finely ground bone meal, highly desirable and more beneficial for East Anglian soils.

In the early days of the Narborough Bone Mill a steady supply of whalebone came upriver by barge from the blubber processing factory at Lynn. The sacks of bone meal were shipped back to Lynn, Cambridge and further afield. On the topic of whaling, for which King’s Lynn was once prominent in this country, our Chris Weston tells us:

“Whaling was once a flourishing trade in West Norfolk. Whale bones were used in ship-making and on a smaller scale, in brush handles and for cutlery handles. A layer of fat called blubber beneath the skin, serves as insulation and an energy reservoir. This was one of the main products for which whales were hunted.

During the mid-18th century, the bounty on whale oil was doubled and around this time, King's Lynn became involved in whaling. The primary product of the whaling industry was the oil rendered from the fatty blubber of the whale. Whale oil was widely used for many different purposes including lighting and lubricating machinery.

The lamps of St Margaret's Church (now Lynn Minster) were fuelled by whale oil until 1829. Whaling ships were commonly around 100 ft long and 26 ft wide and carried a 250–400-ton cargo. While whaling was mainly centred around Spitsbergen and Greenland, whalers often ventured to Baffin Bay and the Davis Strait. They would leave Kings Lynn for Greenland in March and return in July.”

However, as events were to turn out for the Narborough mill, no whaling ships would leave Lynn after 1821, so the mill had to rely partly on collections made by 'bone wagon' from local farms and slaughterhouses. Villagers would also take down "a penn'orth of bones to be ground" sometimes, with further supplies coming from North Germany.

It was said that shiploads arriving at Lynn from across the North Sea would sometimes include the exhumations of burial grounds! – not that anyone was likely to question the ethics of this, for it was said at the time that:
"…one ton of German bone-dust saves the importation of ten tons of German corn".

Details of the reduction process used at the mill are not known, but it is likely that the bones were first boiled to make them brittle and to remove the fat (skimmed off, perhaps, for use as coach and cart grease), then either chopped up by axes or put through toothed cylinders which gradually reduced the bones to small pieces. Finally, the millstones ground them into fine powder.

After the Lynn and Dereham railway opened in 1846-8, the bone meal was transported upriver to the Narborough Maltings, where the barges unloaded at the staithe. Most of the sacks of meal were then taken by horse-drawn wagons along the quarter mile of track to Narborough and Pentney station. From there it went to King's Lynn by train, but some was sold at the Maltings to local farmers, probably at the 'bone shed' marked on an old plan of the buildings there.

The Bone Mill was built in a very isolated position, but the site must have been carefully chosen so as to keep the powerful smell of the production processes away from a public road; another reason was to obtain maximum efficiency for the working of the low-breast wheel. A stanch gate had been in existence since the river was made navigable, but this was probably replaced when the mill was built.

At the same time, sixty yards upstream, a pair of mitre gates was added in the interests of the mill, creating a kind of pound lock between the two stanches. The mill race was taken directly from this partly walled chamber. The addition of the mitre gates was necessary in order to prevent the whole 1,100-yard stretch of river up the next stanch (Narborough Lower Stanch) being emptied each time a barge passed through the Bone Mill stanches. If this had happened, the wheel would have been put out of action until the water level built up again.

In 1884 there began a period of decline in the fortunes of the mill. It came following the River Nar Drainage Board assuming control and construction of an un-navigable sluice south of a manure factory in King’s Lynn. This effectively ended all commercial boat traffic, and the Bone Mill was forced to rely solely on road and rail transport. Maltings and grain merchants along the Nar similarly shifted to rail, and the staithe at Narborough fell into disuse by the end of the decade.

It is, of course, possible that barges continued to take bone meal from the mill up to the Maltings for a few more years, because the mill was not entirely dependent on supplies coming from King's Lynn. It does seem, however, that the Maltings was taking over in the fertiliser business, for Kelly's Norfolk Directory for 1900 lists 'chemical manures' as one of a number of products coming from the yards, then owned by Vynne and Everett.

For several years the disused buildings of the Bone Mill remained, a forbidden playground to local children. The main building was largely intact in 1915, for a Narborough lady remembers climbing to the top that year for the view across Marham Fen. The buildings were demolished bit by bit over the next few years. The machinery went to scrap and most of the rubble was put down on farm tracks. Whenever work was slack at the Maltings a couple of men were sent down the riverbank to pull down some more.

Mr. Jack Bland (then 93), whose father-in-law James Skerry worked at the mill, recalls how he cleaned and carted a load of the bricks to rebuild part of a wall round what is now the Narborough Pottery. He remembers, too, when several rotting barges were hauled out of the river in the 1940s. One of the barges had become so firmly embedded in the bank that trees grew out of it and it could not be removed. The barest remains of this barge, a few slivers of wood and the odd nail, can just be discerned at the fork where the stream from the old Narborough Corn Mill enters the main river course flowing from the Maltings.

The site and the river bank up to the Maltings are privately owned, but there is a public footpath along the opposite bank. It is worth the walk from the village to see the sixteen foot diameter waterwheel, which has a reassuring indestructibility about it.

The Nar navigation eventually reached the granary near Westacre bridge. Four staunches were built between there and Narborough, but this stretch of the river proved very difficult for barge traffic and was abandoned in the early 19th Century.

The King's Lynn whaling trade ended some time before the bone mill was built, but it is thought that whalebone continued to be imported - and the Marriotts were unlikely not to take advantage of this!
David Turner

Charles Boughen, farm labourer b.1851
On 21 October 1870 Charles Boughen aged 19, a farm labourer, walked to the bone mill to take dinner to his cousin David Bates. Whilst there he offered to help the workmen who were digging out manure from a 12 ft high heap. As Charles was filling a skip, the heap gave way and a large quantity of ground up manure fell on him, knocking him over and injuring him. He was taken home and despite the care of the doctor he died the same night. It had only been the end of the previous year that Charles’ mother Phoebe had died and been buried in Narborough churchyard where Charles was also buried on 24 October 1870.
Jan Foster Bartlett - research & David Turner - additional information

James Waters, bone boiler b.1809, Weston Coleville, Cambs.
In 1841 James Waters was living in Pentney with wife Priscilla (née Carveley), who was 15 years older than him, born 1794 in Framlingham, Suffolk. Priscilla had been married before to Joseph Pitt who she married in 1814 in Horningsea, Cambs, they had at least one child, Elizabeth b.1822 who in 1849 had a child, also named Priscilla who at age 12 was living with her grandparents in Pentney in 1861.
In 1833 Priscilla Snr, now a widow, married James Waters in Cambridge and in 1841 were living at Carter House, Pentney. James’ employment was stated as labourer, but also says he was an inmate.
Also living there was John Waters age 15, probably James’ son from a previous marriage.
In 1851 James and Priscilla were living in Pentney at Dales End Green, James was 42 working as a bone boiler (presumably at the bone mill).
In 1861 listed at Dales Green, James was still a bone boiler. Priscilla’s 12 year old granddaughter also called Priscilla was living with them.
In 1863 Priscilla Snr died, she was buried in Pentney aged 68 on 17th January 1863.
Between October and December 1863 James married Elizabeth Springell from Castle Acre, baptised in Swaffham, they lived in 1871 at Grays Buildings, Pentney. He was listed as a labourer, aged 60, wife Elizabeth was 47. Daughter Mary aged 6, born in Pentney lived with them.
James died on 1st December 1874 of cancer pylorus (stomach cancer). Present at his death was Sarah Ann Eagle. James was aged 64 and was buried on December 5th. In 1881 his widow Elizabeth was working in Kings Lynn as a servant for Robert Fuller, a tailor and draper.
In 1891 she was a housekeeper for Robert Fuller and her daughter Marywais also working there as general servant. Before marrying James in 1861 Elizabeth was a housekeeper in Castle Acre to John Chilvers, a blacksmith.
Jan Foster Bartlett - research & David Turner - additional information

Robert Jenkinson , coprolite grinfer b.c.1816, Hindolveston
Robert Jenkinson was born circa 1816 at Hindolveston, Norfolk but by 1851 his occupation as a Maltster journeyman has brought him to the area, presumably to work at the Maltiongs in Narborough. He was living in Pentney where he was  lodging at Lloyds Cottage with Blacksmith, Henry Hall.
In 1858 he married Susan Leggett. Their wedding certificate stated they are both single and Robert’s occupation is still a Maltster.
In 1861 Robert and Susan were living at Mill Cottage Pentney, along with their daughter Emma and a number of Susan’s children.  Robert was now working as an agricultural labourer.
By  1871  Robert was employed at the Bone Mill working as a manure labourer and Susan was a dressmaker. Also living with them at Baileys Buildings in Pentney was their daughter Emma, aged 10 and also Susan’s son William aged 22 who workes as a labourer. 
Ten years on in 1881  Robert was still employed at the Bone Mill, now working as a Coprolite Grinder. Daughter  Emma  aged 19 was still living at home with her parents at Baileys Cottages Pentney. 
Robert died in 1888 and was buried at Pentney in December 1888.
Jan Foster Bartlett - research & David Turner - additional information

William Scott, millwright, b.1827, Kings Lynn
William Scott worked at the Bone Mill as a Millwright, maintaining and repairing the machinery. He was born in 1827 in Kings Lynn, and died 1869 at the bone mill.
In 1851 William lived in Kirby Street in Kings Lynn with his wife Susan, his occupation was listed on the census as a millwright. The couple’s son William age 2 was also living with them. Also at the address was Susan’s mother, Elizabeth Joice, who wais the widow of Thomas Joice who had also been a Millwright.
Susan, ten years previous, can be found aged 10, on the 1841 census living with her parents, Elizabeth and Thomas in Kings Street, Kings Lynn.
In 1852 William and Susan’s son William died age 4, he was buried at St Margarets church, Kings Lynn. The previous year in 1851 their son Alfred Joice Scott was born but it isn’t until 1853 when he was 2 years old that he was baptised at St Nicholas Chapel, Kings Lynn. 
In 1861 the couple were living in Kirby Street, Kings Lynn, William was still a millwright, and son Alfred was 9 years old.
In 1868 Susan, aged 40, died of a disease of the heart. The family were residing in Narborough and Susan was buried in All Saints Churchyard in Narborough in August 1868.
Only six months later in February 1869 that William tragically died at the bone mill whilst oiling moving machinery.Newspaper reports gave graphic details of his horrific death. William was buried with his wife in Narborough, see photo of their grave stone and transcript on Church records. Despite newspapers reporting that an inquest was held, there seems to be no record of his death being registered, therefore no death certificate is available.
The newspaper reports that William left two children, Alfred who was 17 and Susan, who was 4 when her parents died. William’s sister, also named Susan married Thomas Gray in 1856. In 1871 Susan and Thomas were living at Birchington hall, a mansion in Kent and they gave William Scott’s two orphans a home there.
Jan Foster Bartlett - research & David Turner - additional information

Bone Grinding Process

The processes for grinding flint and bones are essentially the same. Bones would have been boiled first to remove tissue, this would in turn produce glue which could be sold as a by-product. The bones would then be moved to the calcining kiln where wood was used as fuel, not coal as would be used with flints, as bone is more combustible and prone to contamination from iron pyrites in coal. Calcinated bone becomes softer and whiter than in its natural state.  The calcining kiln would have consisted of two chambers with a hovel built above them to create a draught to aid combustion. Filling the kiln was a very skilled job requiring layering of fuel and either bone or flint.  Bones would be built up in layers with wood. It would be allowed to combust for 8 to 16 hours (depending on the fuel and climatic conditions) and then left to cool before being withdrawn through draw holes at the bottom.  The kiln would be first heated up to 1000 centigrade, this softened the bones and made them easier to grind. Filling the kilns was a specialised task requiring careful laying of wood at the bottom and alternate layers of fuel and bone. Bone would require, because of its organic nature, little fuel once combustion had commenced and could be calcined more quickly than flint.  After calcining and cooking for up to at least 8 hours the bones were then cooled enough to handle and the kiln would be hand drawn from the bottom. Any impurities would be removed, and any large bones would be cracked by hammers and or passed through a jaw cracker. The material would be taken to the pan room and tipped into the pan. These would be circular of around 12 ft in diameter with vertical sides about 3ft high. The floor of the pan would be carefully built up of chert blocks on a clay seal. A vertical shaft went through the centre of the pan for the gear drive below. The shaft would normally have 4 arms which carried vertical handing timbers. After this process any fat remaining with the one slop caused a froth and this had to be skimmed off. Following this the mixture was passed into a washtub. This would be repeated until all the sediment was at the bottom. The mixture would then be drained off so the sediment could be dried and removed in blocks.
Some millers would purchase bones ready prepared for calcining to avoid the threat of diseases such as anthrax. Many mills would boil the bones themselves with glue being a saleable by-product. Local bones would have been purchased early on in the industry, but then they would be imported from India, Pakistan, Egypt and China. Cattle bones are most preferable as shin bones tend to have a high mineral content and horse bones give the ware a greenish hue. Some millers would tell stories of human bones being included in consignments and various whale and elephant bones have been saved from the grinding process. Grinding would have been done either in pans (wet pan grinding), or with stamps raised by cams and allowed to fall under gravity onto the bones being processed (this was soon discouraged due to the dust it created, causing silicosis) or a set of edge runners or even millstones.
Mills Trust Research 2015

A lottery grant was optained and this allowed for restoration work to be started in 2015, thus saving the mill site from total obscurity. The renovation is well documented on the mill's own dedicated website.

The waterwheel in the photograph below drove farm machinery at Hall Farm on the Narborough Hall Estate for several years before being removed from its watercourse. All the farm buildings were demolished in the 1980s and sadly, the wheel was buried somewhere.

The 1857 Estate Sale catalogue states: "The Machinery for Threshing, Grinding, and Dressing Corn, Cutting Cake, Hay, Straw,etc. is worked by Water Power at a moderate expense."

Narborough Bone Mill has its own dedicated website.