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Location of a water mill on the River Kennet, probably a medieval site but rebuilt at several times; closed in 1972 and buildings demolished for redevelopment
Newbury's Town Mill was a working operation when recorded by Kenneth Major as a 'very old mill incorporated into a modern mill' <1>. The main mill building however had been rebuilt in 1892 following a fire. From the 1950s the mill was owned by H Dolton & Sons Ltd. The mill closed in 1972, when it was also photographed and surveyed for the National Record of Industrial Monuments by F Roberts <3>.
The complex is marked as a corn mill from the late 19th century to early 20th century on Ordnance Survey mapping <9>, but as a flour mill from the 3rd Epoch <10> to the 5th Epoch <11>.
According to the VCH, paper-making and silk-throwing was carried out here, presumably at some time in the nineteenth century <14>.
All post-medieval buildings were demolished and the site was subsequently redeveloped for housing.
West Berkshire Museum has a photograph showing the mill and mill house in the late 19th or early 20th century <18>.
| <01> | Berkshire Archaeological Society. 1963-4. Berkshire Archaeological Journal 1963-64 61. 61. In ADS Journals. 10.5284/1000017. p83-91 No 76 in Berkshire Watermills by J Kenneth Major. [Article in serial / SWB12042]
http://archaeologydataservice.ac.uk/archives/view/berks_bas_2007/journal.cfm?volume=61 (Accessed 21/05/2013) |
| <02> | Dils, J (ed). 1998. An Historical Atlas of Berkshire. p52-3 Fulling Mill - The Berkshire woollen industry c1500-c1650 by Christine Jackson. [Monograph / SWB13916] |
| <03> | 1963-80?. National Record of Industrial Monuments. Record No. BK56. [Unpublished document / SWB148175] |
| <04> | Newbury Weekly News. 1972. End of the Oldest Local Institution. [Article in serial / SWB13199] |
| <05> | Newbury weekly news. 1983. Historic pillars for sale. [Article in serial / SWB13505] |
| <06> | Newbury Advertiser.. 1983. Clothiers vital in medieval Newbury. [Article in serial / SWB13198] |
| <07> | Out and about. 1995. Not Run of the Mill. [Article in serial / SWB13504] |
| <08> | Stokes, P. 1992. Going with the Grain - The Story of Doltons, 1792-1992. [Monograph / SWB13969] |
| <09> | Landmark. 1880-81. Digital OS Mapping Epoch 1, 1:500 - Newbury Town Plan. Digital. 1:500. [Map / SWB146990] |
| <10> | Landmark. 1912-24. Digital Ordnance Survey Mapping Epoch 3, 1:2500 (25 inch). Digital. 25 inches to a mile. [Map / SWB14456] |
| <11> | Ordnance Survey. 1962-1981. Ordnance Survey Epoch 5, 1:2500. 1:2500. 1:2500, 1967. [Map / SWB14665] |
| <12> | Dils, J and Yates, M (ed). 2012. An Historical Atlas of Berkshire (2nd Edition). p64-65, Clothmaking in Berkshire c.1500-c.1650 by Christine Jackson. [Monograph / SWB148708] |
| <13> | Dils, J and Yates, M (ed). 2012. An Historical Atlas of Berkshire (2nd Edition). p92-93, Berkshire Watermills by Brian Boulter and Sheila Viner. [Monograph / SWB148708] |
| <14> | Ditchfield and Page (eds). 1906. Victoria County History (VCH) Berks I 1906. Vol 1. p382, 397. [Monograph / SWB10017]
https://archive.org/details/victoriahistoryo01ditcuoft (Accessed on 22/12/2021) |
| <15> | Newbury District Field Club. 1983. TRANS NEWBURY DISTRICT FIELD CLUB 1983 VOL 13 NO 1. p17-19 The History of the Water Mills in Newbury Part Two by B J Eggleton. [Article in serial / SWB12913] |
| <16> | Newbury District Field Club. 1981. TRANS NEWBURY DISTRICT FIELD CLUB 1981 VOL 12 NO 6. Scanned by West Berkshire Museum. p33-39 A History of the Water Mills in Newbury Part I by B J Eggleton. [Article in serial / SWB8044] |
| <17> | Davis, Cornelius. 1849. Davis' Ten Miles round Newbury, 1849. Ref No 20 'Town Mill'. [Map / SWB13949] |
| <18> | Museum Curator. Newbury Museum Accession Records (West Berkshire Museum since 1998). 2022 WBC Network. NEBYM:1985.95.12. [Unpublished document / SWB14452] |
| <19> | 1842. Newbury Tithe Map and Award. Marked, but not named. [Map / SWB14277]
http://ww2.berkshirenclosure.org.uk/CalmView/Record.aspx?src=CalmView.Catalog&id=DD1%2f89%2f1 (Accessed 10/02/2022) |