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South Hams Mill

Beaminster

Duncan Harris

(February 2015)

(I wish to thank many people from the museum and Beaminster who have provided the

information for this document)

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South Hams Mill, Beaminster

(Sometimes called Interalia Mill)

History of mill

Domesday Book to 1500-1600, during which there was a water powered corn grist mill for flour in the vicinity, probably customary etc, where we have several documents9;

1525 There was a water mill in the vicinity where all the customary tenants from the

manor of Beaminster Prima were obliged to bring their corn to be ground7.

Say C18th to the 1860s, when initially flax milling added say late C18th/earlyC19th

with improved leat and current buildings, then also an iron foundry on site (certainly

by 1830), thereafter also with flax milling experiments for the decade 1853-639;

1861 The present building was recorded at one point as a flax and tow mill, and was

described on the census returns as 'the Flax Mills’7 (interesting to note mills).

1863 "Fortnightly sale... at the Flax Mills, near the Turnpike Gate, Beaminster,

comprising topping, narva, raw hemp and …”2

Owners

The 1842 Tithe Map ground plan shows a larger building than today, where only the

right/East half with the original C18th? corn mill building remains but with walls and

foundations for the other parts still identifiable today. The 1852? corn mill sale may

have been a private sale to Swatridge. The flax mill was certainly offered at auction

in the advertisement in 1853. (Would Swatridge the local businessman with a

baking/grocery background have known not to get involved in the declining flax

industry, leaving it to the optimistic outside engineer to give it a go?) (The alternative

which I currently favour less is that the corn mill had been converted to flax milling

like others may have been in the area in late C18th/early C19th, and the 1863-65

transition point marked the return to corn milling as well as the cessation of iron

foundry working at the site.)9

1843 Owner Thomas Fox (father of Baruch Fox) shown on tithe map apportionment

as owner, occupier is Benjamin Porter. The site is described as houses,

foundry, mills buildings, yards and garden occupying 3 roods 28 perches.3

1852 The business owner of the corn mill was the local businessman Richard

Swatridge from about 1852, buying or renting off Baruch Fox and Charles

Fox9

1852-1864 Henry Swatridge (see Appendix 2 for more details)

1856 Baruch Fox, Interalia mills, etc1.

The 1860s were a pivotal period, when both the flax milling and the iron foundry

ceased operations, prior to Parnham?9 1861 Occupier a flax agent rather appropriately named Job Miller7. 1863 Sale of machinery and plant at the mill near turnpike gate, Beaminster6. The freeholder of the corn mill becomes the Parnham Estate by about 1870 (eg end

of lease for three lives?)9.

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1862-1888 Owner Henry Swatridge continued with it as a corn mill (see appendix 2

for more details)

Corn milling became the sole focus with the arrival of Henry Curtis as the miller. Father and son who lived on site in one of the two mill cottages from c.1864 to 1938 as the resident employee millers. And his son (also Richard S) owned the business till during or after WW1, when it was taken on by the neighbouring Hunt family for a final decade as a corn milling addition to their saw mill and carriage works9. 1888-1920 Richadr Swatridge Junr.(see Appendix 2 for more details) Acquired by Hunt family in 1922 (see appendix 2) Mill still run by Curtis family until late 1920s. (see appendix 2) It was afterwards used for storage, sold by the Hunt family c.1959??, and used as a

builder's/tarmaccer's site through the 1960s, and became relatively derelict. It was

bought around 1994 and converted into a residence, and sold again about three

years ago9.

Figure 1 Sale advertisement 18636

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Figure 2 Sale advertisement 18978

In 1897 the grist mill has been supplemented by a steam engine which may or may not be the same one that is suggested in 1863.

The photograph taken by Richard Hine after the flood of 1894(see below) shows a

large chimney at the site which could be for the steam engine or for the iron foundry

on the site.

P

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1910

157½acres to be sold by the Robinson executors10

Beaminster Mill 611 Mill meadow

610 Mil pond

610A Mill, 2 cottages and lodge (at South Gate)

All these are let to Richard Swatridge

1962 Derelict5

Location

Off the main road to Bridport near Southgate.

OS Explorer 117 ST479010

Processes

Spinning flax and tow.

Grist mill

Products

Spun thread. From sale document above (Figure 1), may have done own transport

with cart.

Grain

Power Sources

Water wheel 16ft x 10ft, wheel shaft in iron form octagonal and 14in across slats’4.

The slats suggests an undershot wheel. May possibly have had a steam engine

later6.

Steam engine may be a stationary steam engine6, but by 1897 is more probably a

Cornish boiler with associated steam engines. The tall chimney in the 1894

photograph would fit with this idea. It had supplemental steam power in 1897 sale

document (see Figure 2) when it had reverted to a grist mill. There appears to have

been an iron foundry there

.

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Map of leat from Tithe Map

River and streams Mill

Figure 2 Mill and leat

The river and stream directions seem to be man-made.

The dashed red line appears to be an overflow ditch. The leat actually came out of

the mill underground (Figure 4) back into the river at a later date as shown by the

dotted red line.

Figure 3 Water channel to mill with weir on river (photograph Marcus Chambers)

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Figure 4 Former outlet from mill

(photograph Duncan Harris)

Employees

There are several other flax-related occupations amongst the census entries for that

year, including William Pool (aged 15) of St Mary Well Street, a 'labourer flax mills';

Mary Ann (aged13) and Elizabeth Rendle (aged 11) of Newtown, both of whom 'work

in flax mill'. There is no evidence within the census of any other Beaminster flax mill

being in operation at that time7.

Customers

No information

Landscape legacies

The mill leat is still in place, diverted away from the main river by the weir at Hams

Plot, but the old millpond has been drained. The mill itself is now a private house7.

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Photographs

Figure 5 Aerial view of mill and outbuildings

Figure 6 Mill today

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Appendix 1

Michael Nisbet (23 September 2014)

to me, Brian, Colin

Hello Duncan

Thanks for your 'conjecture' that the tall chimney in the 1894 photo of Hams Mill relates to auxiliary

steam power from a Cornish boiler. I think that is a very useful starting point, and fits with the

evidence so far (such as it is). I recall it was Colin S who initiated the present work on identifying the

cimney photo by asking me if I knew where it was. Which I happened to do.

You note two sources, being Sale documents

(1) in 1853, sale of flax mill machinery & stock with "old steam engine"

(2) in 1894, sale of Parnham Estate includes flour mills with "auxiliary steam engine and modern

machinery".

I do not think there is any further detail at the DHC than in these two press advertisements. The 1894

sale particulars document is about as brief as this advert. There is also your point in the recent

Beaminster flax book about the flax engineer at Hams Mill giving up around the early 1860s, whose

departure is supported in my repopulating of all the dozen houses in the area from 1841 to 1911 from

the censuses.

A Framework

I offer you below my present outline framework of thinking about the history of Hams Mill. It is no more

than a hypothesis, informed by first readings and clues!

I think in threes. There are (1) three main eras in the mill's history, (2) three main businesses &

products involved (corn, flax, iron etc), and (3) three main players or roles (property freeholder,

business and machinery owner, resident employee/miller).

- Medieval , say Domesday Book to 1500-1600, during which it was a water powered corn grist

mill for flour, probably customary etc, where we have several documents;

- Industrial, say C18th to the 1860s, when initially flax milling added say late C18th/earlyC19th

with improved leat and current buildings, then also an iron foundry on site (certainly by 1830),

thereafter also with flax milling experiments for the decade 1853-63;

- Modern corn milling only, from the 1860s to the late 1920s.

(It was afterwards used for storage, sold by the Hunt family c.1959??, and used as a

builder's/tarmaccer's site through the 1960s, and became relatively derelict. It was bought around

1994 and converted into a residence, and sold again about three years ago.

Three elements are shaping my thinking on its history at this stage:

(1) the 1860s were a pivotal period, when both the flax milling and the iron foundry ceased

operations. Corn milling became the sole focus with the arrival of the Curtis father and son who lived

on site in one of the two mill cottages from c.1864 to 1938 as the resident employee millers. The

freeholder of the corn mill becomes the Parnham Estate by about 1870 (eg end of lease for three

lives?). The business owner of the corn mill was the local businessman Richard Swatridge snr from

about 1852, buying or renting off Baruch Fox and Charles Fox prior to Parnham? And his son (also

Richard S) owned the business till during or after WW1, when it was taken on by the neighbouring

Hunt family for a final decade as a corn milling addition to their saw mill and carriage works. (Whether

the steam boiler at the corn mill may also have powered the saw mill across the intervening narrow

river is pure speculation for now.)

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(2) the flax milling and the corn milling were separate businesses. The 1842 Tithe Map ground

plan shows a larger building than today, where only the right/East half with the original C18th? corn

mill building remains but with walls and foundations for the other parts still identifiable today. The

1852? corn mill sale may have been a private sale to Swatridge. The flax mill was certainly offered at

auction from your advertisement in 1853. (Would Swatridge the local businessman with a

baking/grocery background have known not to get involved in the declining flax industry, leaving it to

the optimistic outside engineer to give it a go?) (The alternative which I currently favour less is that the

corn mill had been converted to flax milling like others may have been in the area in late C18th/early

C19th, and the 1863-65 transition point marked the return to corn milling as well as the cessation of

iron foundry working at the site.)

(3) generating power was a significant issue. There had always only been a small head of water of

say 3-4 ft from the leat to drive the mill. OK in medieval times with modest requirements? So, to get

the greater weight onto the undershot wheel from the C18th?, it was built very wide, more like a barrel

on its side than the wheel we imagine. (Think Mississippi rear wheeled paddle steamer.) I have seen

but forgotten mention of the wheel's dimensions, but it might be 8-10ft diameter and say 10-12ft wide

across. The lower half of the wheel remains, but was concreted in during the 1990s conversion to a

house. So it is quite consistent that when boiler steam engines became available (eg your Trevithick

say after 1800??) that it would be used to supplement water power from the early C19th. But the 1853

sale was only of the flax mill machinery and stock part, including an old (original?) steam boiler

associated with it.

(Perhaps the corn mill was water only and the flax mill was steam powered. Perhaps flax mill built at

height of flax boom say 1800-10, using the latest power technology, a steam boiler? The 1853 sale of

the machinery and stock may be the sale of the flax business (incl horse and wagon) rather than for

removal for scrap, and the following decade of experimenting for cheaper flax milling did not work as

hoped in that declining industry. So after 1863 could then see the removal of the flax machinery. But

the boiler and chimney, in the middle of the buildings with the flax operations on the left/west, were

retained and updated and their power was then applied to the revitalised and re-equipped corn mill

through to after WW1? Hence the 1894 particulars mention the auxiliary steam power and modern

machinery.)

Next Steps

Anyway, I hope this "chimney framework" helps to put your boiler conjecture into some sort of context

and shows it contributes to it.

Doubtless more facts will emerge to modify this. So far I have quite good information from post

office/trade Directories, from family census data, from a few rates entries, and from the present owner

of Hams Mill whom I know.

One next step is for me to pull together the clues so far into a single write-up. Another is to explore

further data at DHC eg the Baruch Fox estate papers for c.1853 if they exist. Another is to clarify what

happened at the mill in the century before 1830, including the hams leat and bridge improvements

and flax milling. Another is to clarify likely power sources for flax and corn mills in the C19th, like types

of boiler or steam vs diesel vs water, prompted by your note suggesting Trevithick or Cornish boilers

such as the one you suggest at Mosterton.

I will happily receive further thoughts and info and examples towards describing the history of the mill,

prompted by its now famous Chimney! And I will pass on your Trevithick conjecture note to the owner

at Hams Mill. Thanks again.

Regards

Michael Nisbet

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Appendix 2

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References

1 Angela Trotman (Beaminster museum folders), Volume 2, Beaminster Rate Books,

2 Advertisement Dorset County Chronicle 1863.

3 Beaminster tithe map and apportionment Dorset History Centre document

T/BE (also available in Beaminster Museum on computers)

4 Addison, Joseph & Wailes, Rex Dorset Watermills Newcomen Transactions 1962-3 XXV Pg 197

5 Addison, Joseph & Wailes, Rex Dorset Watermills Newcomen Transactions

1962-3 XXV Pg 211

6 Dorset County Chronicle, 18 June 1863

7 Museum publication Hanging by a Thread: Our Flax and Hemp Heritage Pg 52

8 Advertisement pg. 1, 8th July 1897

9 E-mail from Michael Nisbet (see Appendix 1) September 2014

10 D1 Beaminster 728.84,381.17 (old Dorchester Reference Library number,

may now be in DHC or still in library!?)