This page is intended to contain the all available information of the history of the Mill, its Millers and the Machinery - Any additions gratefully received. My thanks go to Geoffrey Starmer, for much of the historical information below.
Map References
Map reference SP693488 on a leat from the river Tove.
1779 Eyres map marks it, un-named
1827 Bryants map shows mill, again un-named
1834 First edition 1" OS map does NOT show it !
History of the Mill
1086 - Doomsday records one mill in TOVECESTRE rendering 13s
6d
1711 - Engraving shows buildings between church and the
millstream. late 17th Century - present mill leat constructed on
line of town ditch.
1795 - Thomas Perkins of Towcester insured for 500 pounds in
Water Corn Mill.
1815 - Above insured dwelling house with brewhouse and stable
adjoining, as well as mill near the house.
1823 - Insured for a total of 1,100 pounds.
1831 - Partnership between Sarah Perkins and James Stuard (sic)
Perkins, miller in Towcester, dissolved on 12 April.
1837 - Advertised to let by Mr Perkins. Tenant at time was
Mr Tatam.
1883 - Roller grinding introduced - but not in the main mill
building as far as we know.
1888 - Mill being run by Easton Neston Estate.
1895 - Turbine installed AND overshot waterwheel repaired.
1911 - 14th September, Mill was completely gutted by fire. Owner
was Sir Thomas Fermor Hesketh, Bart.
1920 - Operated by Towcester Flour Mill and Trading Co. Ltd.
using only water power.
19xx - Milling Ceased.
1996 - We moved in !
1997 - 5th October, Turbine again
functional !!
List of Millers
1795 - Thomas Perkins
1830 - Sarah & James Perkins at Towcester Mill, also Richard
Gallard, High St. Towcester
1847 - S Perkins
1852 - Samuel Harris
1854 - S Perkins, Mill Cottage, and C Perkins, High St.
1864 - J L Gallard, Mill Cottage.
1888 - Joseph Lee Gallard died a bankrupt
1890 - John Franklin Chapman
1906 - A F Bishop, manager for Towcester Flour Mills
1914 - Albert Laurence, manager
Dates of the Buildings
1795 - Described as 'stone and tiled' on insurance.
1815 - 'stone and slate'
1912 (ish) - Large brick extension
1936 (ish) - Further semi-octagonal brick extension
Machinery - general
1823 - Insured as carrying three pairs of stones.
1837 - Working four pairs of stones when advertised to let.
1881 - Wheat Damper installed
1888 - Waterwheel fitted with 50 new starts.
1895 - George Groom, millwright of Eastcote, fitted the Armfield Turbine and repaired the old overshot
waterwheel. Reference was also made to a special
flange for disconnecting the engine drive.
1940 onwards - Stone building housed two pairs of peak stones
(rarely used) for grinding, a bean crusher, an oat clipper, a
maize crusher, and the sack hoist. These were powered by
the Turbine until lunchtimes when
water ran out and the electric motor was switched on. The
sharpening stone was also connected by belt drive through the
floor of room behind the main conference room. The front
brick building housed an electric 'hammer mill' for producing
animal feed pellets.
The Waterwheel
This was a large overshot wheel situated under the current reception area. It was roughly 9 feet in diameter, and 10 feet wide. Only the horizontal shaft, and a fairly small pitwheel remain. The shaft has signs of where 3 sets of spokes joined it to form the structure of the wheel, one at each end and one in the centre. It was an overshot wheel, which was relatively efficient even in simple form.
The Turbine
The turbine is a 20 inch type 7 British Empire turbine, manufactured by J.J.Armfield in Ringwood, Hants. This is a double horizontal type, with a double rotor and a vertical shaft. The bearings are made of Lignum Vitae, an extremely dense wood, also used as propshaft bearings on warships. The size refers to the diameter of the turbine rotor.The water inlet is controlled via "top and bottom hatches" behind the turbine, which feed the lower and upper sections of the rotor respectiveley - yes I do mean that they are swapped - this is because the control gear should be rotated by 180 degrees ! We think that it was installed in about 1895, but are unsure when it ceased to operate. The shaft drives (via a dog clutch and bevel gears) a horizontal shaft on the floor above. No machinery remains, but a large pulley wheel now turns on the outside of the building. This once allowed the mill to be driven by a steam engine, (before it started a serious fire in 1911) and later by a large electric motor.The maximum power output with the 9 foot head of water to be 12 Horse Power, (9kW) and the cost when installed 85 pounds !
Towcester Mill - Old water powered building on right. - Bob Simpson 1997
The Turbine being stripped down (and me) - Bob Simpson 1997