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Summary

Documentary evidence suggests that Higher Kings Mill comprised two tucking mills in the medieval/post medieval period. It was first used for making paper perhaps as early as 1729. Modern buildings now used for processing recycled paper.

Location

Protected Status: none recorded

Other References/Statuses

• Old DCC SMR Ref: ST00NW/13

Monument Type(s) and Dates

• PAPER MILL (Early Medieval to XXI - 1066 AD to 2009 AD (Between))

Full description

Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division, ST00NW10 (Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division Card). SDV336997.

Ordnance Survey, 1880-1899, First Edition Ordnance 25 inch map (Cartographic). SDV336179.

The 1880s-1890s 25 inch Ordnance Survey map shows 'Higher King's Mill (Paper)' just upstream from 'Lower King's Mill (Corn)'. The latter may be the site of the other mill which ceased operation iin 1860 (see PRN 61497).

Shorter, A. H., 1938 - 1939, Paper Mills in Devon, 35 (Article in Serial). SDV85082.

Shorter, A. H., 1947, Paper Mills in Devon and Cornwall, 102, 194 (Article in Serial). SDV85084.

Shorter, A. H., 1950, The Historical Geography of the Paper Making Industry in Devon, 1684-1950, 209 (Article in Serial). SDV122239.

According to Shorter's articles in TDA and DCNQ, there were two paper mills at Cullompton. One, owned by Elizabeth Dart, which became known as Higher King's Mill, was in operation in 1757 and still going in 1950. The other, owned by John Mills, operated between 1816 and 1860.

Shorter, A. H., 1950 - 1951, Paper Mills in Devon and Cornwall, 222 (Article in Serial). SDV97329.

Further documentary evidence suggests that paper making may have started as early as 1729.

Minchinton, W. E., 1973, Industrial Archaeology in Devon, 19 (Monograph). SDV7016.

Higher Kingsmill is first mentioned in 1757. Still has some machines dating from 1866 which make narrow paper. It is in commercial use and can be seen on application to the company, Messrs Reed & Smith.

Phillips, M. C. + Wilson, R. E., 1974 - 1977, Water Mills in East Devon, 83 (Article in Serial). SDV42946.

Water to work the mill was first granted by the Abbot of Buckland in 1356. Details of the occupation of the mill from 1757 to 1957 given.

Bodman, M., 1998, Water-Powered Sites in Devon, 6 (Report - non-specific). SDV305931.

Other details: No 17.

Exeter Archaeology, 2002, Archaeological Assessment of Lower King's Mill House, King's Mill Road, Cullompton, 4 (Report - Assessment). SDV336787.

The name King's Mill is first recorded in 1291, as 'Kyngesmill' but the earliest surviving deeds date only from the post medieval period. Documentary evidence from 1608 hints that Higher King's Mill originated as two tucking mills.

Bodman, M., 2003, Watermills and Other Water-Powered Sites in Devon, 45-46, 50 (Report - Interim). SDV325576.

Described in 1790 as 'a tenement called the Paper Mills; consisting of a good dwelling-house and a compleat set of mills for the manufacture of all sorts of paper, two orchards, and a garden' together with meadows.
It appears that the old mill buildings have now been swept away and modern buildings are now occupied by St Regis who process recycled paper here.

Evans, P., 2006, New Office Development, Cullompton, Devon, 3 (Report - Assessment). SDV337919.

Sources / Further Reading

Associated Monuments

Associated Finds: none recorded

Associated Events: none recorded

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