1927
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Sea Palling Brograve Level drainage pump Waxham New Cut |
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1927 |
Brograve drainage mill at Waxham is 1 mile north of Horsey Mere and is now a Grade II listed building. The mill was originally built by Sir Berny Brograve in 1771 and an external datestone is inscribed BB1771. The 3 storey mill tower without any windows had a Norfolk boat shaped cap with a petticoat and an 8 bladed fantail with a tailpole. Four patent sails on an octagonal windshaft powered an internal turbine to drain the Brograve levels into Waxham New Cut. The nearby Lambridge Mill also drains into the same Cut. |
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July 1950 |
10th April 1972 |
Derelict, slightly tarred red brick tower without cap, leaning and distorted in bad condition. 1¾ stocks with fragments of 2 patent sails and spider, windshaft, brakewheel, fan cradle askew, striking chain wheel, gear inside; squat with only slight batter. Isolated at junction of 2 dykes leading to Breyden Marshes And Horsey Mere. Private.
Arthur C. Smith - 10th April 1972 |
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Approach to the mill 1986 |
Sir Berney Brograve had a fierce pack of hunting dogs (not surprising) but his kennel keeper went to the Royal Sovereign Inn in Hempstead where the landlord had a reputation as a fortune teller, reluctantly and at much insistence from the kennel keeper, he told the kennel keeper he would come to a violent end and his body would never be buried. A few days later, whilst cleaning out the kennels the dogs turned and attacked the kennel keeper - all that was left were the brass buttons from his breeches on the kennel floor.
Anne Grand - 8th February 2015 |
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1986 |
Stocks 1986 |
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Interior 1986 |
Fantail assembly 1986 |
There is a legend that Sir Berney was chased by the devil into the mill one night. The devil pounded his hooves on the door trying to get in, but Sir Berney stayed put, too afraid to come out. When he woke the next morning the door was covered in hoof prints. Cheryl Nicol - 24th January 2016 |
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1998 |
Another story concerns the subsidence. Apparently the devil was annoyed at old Sir Berney for trying to drain his land and tried to blow the mill down. Cheryl Nicol - 24th January 2016 |
E. Rose, the Norfolk CC archaeologist, wrote in 1985 that Brograve mill had subsided in five places and was straightened on five different occasions. As a result it has become known locally as Devil's Mill. Cheryl Nicol - 24th January 2016 |
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10th September 2006 |
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18th November 2012 |
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3rd September 2017 |
Windshaft assembly 4th September 2017 |
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O. S. Map 1884 Courtesy of NLS map images |
1771: Mill built by Sir Berney Brograve, 1st Baronet (1726-1797) O.S. map 1884: Brograve Mill (Draining Pump) c.1930: Mill ceased working 2006: Mill leaning to the west and derelict, used by cormorants as a lookout point and to dry their wings 2010: Bernard & Stuart Ellis, farmers and owners January 2016: Sir Berny Brograve, A Very Anxious Man by Cheryl Nicol published 2017: Mill machinery open to the elements and becoming derelict |
If you have any memories, anecdotes or photos please let us know and we may be able to use them to update the site. By all means telephone 07836 675369 or
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| Nat Grid Ref TG 44802358 |
Copyright © Jonathan Neville 2006 |