A diagram of the River Medway

River Medway

The River Medway, which is almost entirely in Kent, England, flows for from just inside the West Sussex border to the point where it enters the Thames Estuary....

 and its watermills and those on its tributaries can be seen on this sub-page.

The River Medway, its tributaries and sub-tributaries have been used as a source of power for over 1,150 years. There are over two hundred sites where the use of water power is known. Many different processes were performed by the use of water power:- Corn milling, fulling, paper making, iron smelting, pumping water, making gunpowder, vegetable oil extraction and electricity generation.
Today, there is just one watermill working for trade. Those that remain have mostly been converted. Such conversions include a garage, dwellings, restaurants, museums and a wedding venue. Some watermills are mere derelict shells, lower walls or lesser remains. Of the majority, there is nothing to be seen.

Fen Place (Bishes) Mill, Worth

TQ 361 366 51.112421°N 0.054732°W
The mill

Watermill

A watermill is a structure that uses a water wheel or turbine to drive a mechanical process such as flour, lumber or textile production, or metal shaping .- History :...

 building survives in part, incorporated into a dwelling and retaining the waterwheel. The site may have been a hammer mill, witnessed by Ironmasters Cottage Wing mentioned in recent property sale particulars. The mill was known as Bishes Mill in 1598 John Awcock was the miller

Miller

A miller usually refers to a person who operates a mill, a machine to grind a cereal crop to make flour. Milling is among the oldest of human occupations. "Miller", "Milne" and other variants are common surnames, as are their equivalents in other languages around the world...

 in 1841 and John Stanbridge was the miller in 1851, still there in 1867. The mill was then a corn mill.

Brambletye (Castle) Mill, Forest Row.

TQ 4168 3527 51.098721°N 0.023758°W
A Domesday site, the last mill building dated from 1866, replacing the previous building that had burnt down. It had a brick base with timber above. The wooden overshot waterwheel drove three pairs of millstone

Millstone

Millstones or mill stones are used in windmills and watermills, including tide mills, for grinding wheat or other grains.The type of stone most suitable for making millstones is a siliceous rock called burrstone , an open-textured, porous but tough, fine-grained sandstone, or a silicified,...

s. Although the mill was working in 1945 it had been demolished by 1968.

Tablehurst Mill, Forest Row

TQ 450 352 51.097655°N 0.071779°W
This mill was a mainly sixteenth century building. It is most likely to be the "Tellhurst Mill" that J. M. W. Turner

J. M. W. Turner

Joseph Mallord William Turner RA was an English Romantic landscape painter, watercolourist and printmaker. Turner was considered a controversial figure in his day, but is now regarded as the artist who elevated landscape painting to an eminence rivalling history painting...

 sketched c.1795. It had two overshot waterwheels in tandem, with all wooden machinery. The mill ceased working in 1925 and had been demolished by 1936.

Parrock Forge, Hartfield

TQ 458 357 51.101945°N 0.083399°W
This forge was active during the reign of Henry VIII

Henry VIII of England

Henry VIII was King of England from 21 April 1509 until his death. He was Lord, and later King, of Ireland, as well as continuing the nominal claim by the English monarchs to the Kingdom of France...

, when it was making "gunstones of iron". His Majesty was in arrears with payments for munitions supplied, leading to financial trouble for the ironmaster in 1530. Robert Scorer was the lessee in 1513, when it was owned by William Warner, the forge was sold to William Saunders in 1547. In 1574 the forge was owned by Lord Buckhurst and worked by George Bullen. In 1595, the Crown Gunfounder, Thomas Johnson was involved in a dispute here. At the time the forge was owned by William Garway, and is last recorded in the ownership of John Garway in 1600. The dam is recorded as 70 metres (76.6 yd) long and up to 1.5 metre high, although there is some evidence that it could have been as much as 270 metres (295.3 yd) long.

Hartfield Iron Mill

This forge was in existence in 1496, when its owner Thomas Wildgoose made his will. Its probable location was below Chartners Farm (square TQ4736).

Ashurst Mill

TQ 506 389 51.129461°N 0.153251°W
This mill was a corn mill. The last building was built c.1780. The mill was run for many years by the Caffyn family. Thomas Caffyn was the miller in 1851. New machinery was installed in 1887 at a cost of over £1,000. The mill was being run by Thomas Caffyn (son of 1851 Thomas), when it burnt down in September 1930. The waterwheel was 16 feet (4.88 m) diameter by 7 in 8 in (2.34 m) wide.

Ashurst Furnace

TQ 507 390 51.130334°N 0.154721°W
This furnace stood just downstream of Ashurst Mill. It was operating between 1574 and 1599. It was owned by sommeone by the name of Stace in 1574, Sir Walter Waller in 1588-90 (occupied by John Phillips) and in 1599 Thomas Browne sold cannon here.

Chafford Mills, Fordcombe

This was a paper mill

Paper mill

A paper mill is a factory devoted to making paper from vegetable fibres such as wood pulp, old rags and other ingredients using a Fourdrinier machine or other type of paper machine.- History :...

. There were two mills here in the thirteenth century, separated by a ford

Ford (crossing)

A ford is a shallow place with good footing where a river or stream may be crossed by wading or in a vehicle. A ford is mostly a natural phenomenon, in contrast to a low water crossing, which is an artificial bridge that allows crossing a river or stream when water is low.The names of many towns...

 that passed through the tail race of the Upper Mill. The Upper Mill was removed c.1300 and as a result the ford became deep and impassable. In 1303, Henry de Cobham

Henry de Cobham, 1st Baron Cobham

Henry de Cobham, 1st Baron Cobham was the son of John de Cobham of Cobham, Kent, and of Cowling or Cooling, Kent Sheriff of Kent, Constable of Rochester and Chief Baron of the Exchequer, by wife Joan de Septvans, daughter of Sir Robert de Septvans.His father was a brother of Sir Henry de Cobham,...

 built a bridge at his own cost to replace the ford. This was swept away by a storm in 1337 and Thomas de Cobham (his son), erected a footbridge in its place. The Sheriff proceeded against Thomas for not rebuilding the bridge in its original form, and the Court agreed with the Sheriff. The site was used at one time as a fulling mill. A picture of the mill c.1850 can be seen here. Paper from Chafford Mills was used to print postage stamp

Postage stamp

A postage stamp is a small piece of paper that is purchased and displayed on an item of mail as evidence of payment of postage. Typically, stamps are made from special paper, with a national designation and denomination on the face, and a gum adhesive on the reverse side...

s for Jamaica

Jamaica

Jamaica is an island nation of the Greater Antilles, in length, up to in width and 10,990 square kilometres in area. It is situated in the Caribbean Sea, about south of Cuba, and west of Hispaniola, the island harbouring the nation-states Haiti and the Dominican Republic...

, The Transvaal and the Falkland Islands

Falkland Islands

The Falkland Islands are an archipelago in the South Atlantic Ocean, located about from the coast of mainland South America. The archipelago consists of East Falkland, West Falkland and 776 lesser islands. The capital, Stanley, is on East Falkland...

. The mill closed in 1913 and was demolished in 1930. It was latterly driven by a turbine

Water turbine

A water turbine is a rotary engine that takes energy from moving water.Water turbines were developed in the 19th century and were widely used for industrial power prior to electrical grids. Now they are mostly used for electric power generation. They harness a clean and renewable energy...

.

Pound Mill, Penshurst

This mill stood below Ford Place Farm. It was a corn mill powered by an overshot waterwheel.

Ensfield Mill

A long lost mill site. An agreement between Tonbridge Priory and the bishop of Rochester in 1353 mentions a mill at "Yenesfield" - the present day Ensfield Farm.

Ramhurst Mill, Leigh

TQ 566 463 51.194°N 0.242°W
In the 1428 will of Sir Thomas Colepeper it is referred to as the mill of Greenerssh. The mill was marked on a map dated 1579. The mill was marked as Crenhurst Mill on a map of 1769. Ramshurst Mill was marked on the 1801 Ordnance Survey map, but not on Greenwoods map dated 1821. In 1851, Henry Morgan was a millwright living at Ramhurst Mills, Leigh.

Powder Mills, Leigh (Tunbridge Gunpowder Works)

TQ 573 466 51.196853°N 0.252305°W
This was a gunpowder

Gunpowder

Gunpowder, also known since in the late 19th century as black powder, was the first chemical explosive and the only one known until the mid 1800s. It is a mixture of sulfur, charcoal, and potassium nitrate - with the sulfur and charcoal acting as fuels, while the saltpeter works as an oxidizer...

 mill, established in 1811 by John Children and William Burton of Tonbridge

Tonbridge

Tonbridge is a market town in the English county of Kent, with a population of 30,340 in 2007. It is located on the River Medway, approximately 4 miles north of Tunbridge Wells, 12 miles south west of Maidstone and 29 miles south east of London...

. William was the brother of Decimus Burton

Decimus Burton

Decimus Burton was a prolific English architect and garden designer, He is particularly associated with projects in the classical style in London parks, including buildings at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and London Zoo, and with the layout and architecture of the seaside towns of Fleetwood and...

. The Powder Mills cost £30,000 to set up. Humphry Davy

Humphry Davy

Sir Humphry Davy, 1st Baronet FRS MRIA was a British chemist and inventor. He is probably best remembered today for his discoveries of several alkali and alkaline earth metals, as well as contributions to the discoveries of the elemental nature of chlorine and iodine...

 was also involved at the start, but he soon withdrew. The Children family sold out to the Burton at the end of 1812. William Ford Burton managing the mills. In the early 1820s the Burton family bought the land, which had been leased initially. The site was known as the Tunbridge Gunpowder Works. In 1834, Thomas Wells of Powder Mills died and was buried at Penshurst. Three explosions were recorded in the years 1832-35, the last killing two people. In 1837, there were four mills, each taking water from the same pond. The available head of water was some 13 feet (3.96 m), and the waterwheels were breastshot. Another explosion occurred in 1845, without loss of life. William Burton died in 1859, and the mills were put up for sale. They were bought by Charles and Thomas Curtis for £10,000. An explosion on 6 July 1864 killed four people. The firm was called Curtis's and Harvey by 1874. In this year, the transport of gunpowder along the River Medway ceased owing to the inhabitants of Maidstone

Maidstone

Maidstone is the county town of Kent, England, south-east of London. The River Medway runs through the centre of the town linking Maidstone to Rochester and the Thames Estuary. Historically, the river was a source and route for much of the town's trade. Maidstone was the centre of the agricultural...

 fearing for their safety from the passage of the barges along the river. In 1878, there was an explosion that killed a man. Steam power having been added by this date. The mills were reworked in 1885 when another explosion killed a man. Cordite

Cordite

Cordite is a family of smokeless propellants developed and produced in the United Kingdom from 1889 to replace gunpowder as a military propellant. Like gunpowder, cordite is classified as a low explosive because of its slow burning rates and consequently low brisance...

 was being produced by this time and the manufacture of gunpowder ceased by 1897. Curtis's and Harvey became a public company in 1898. There was a tramway system around the site, probably introduced in 1885. The gauge was some 23 inches (584.2 mm). No locomotives were worked, all propulsion being by manual labour. An explosion in 1917 was caused by a lightning strike. After World War I, production was cut back, and Curtis's and Harveys had become part of Explosives Trade Ltd, which became Nobel Industries Ltd in 1920. Nobel Industries became part of Imperial Chemical Industries

Imperial Chemical Industries

Imperial Chemical Industries was a British chemical company, taken over by AkzoNobel, a Dutch conglomerate, one of the largest chemical producers in the world. In its heyday, ICI was the largest manufacturing company in the British Empire, and commonly regarded as a "bellwether of the British...

. Another explosion in 1927 killed several people. Production ceased in 1934, with the manufacturing of explosives being transferred to Ardeer

Ardeer, Scotland

Ardeer lies at the head of the Ardeer peninsula, now part of Stevenston, North Ayrshire, and was a dominant global supplier of explosives to the mining and quarrying industries and a major player in the design and development of products for the chemical and defence industries during the 20th...

 in Scotland. Many of the buildings were burnt down. In 1942, the site was bought by T G East and Son, and developed as a small pharmaceutical works. In 1952, the site came into the ownership of Smith Kline and French, which later became Smith Kline Beecham and then Glaxo Smith Kline. The site is now used for pharmceutical research and is still known as Powder Mills to this day.

Town Mill, Tonbridge

TQ 596 467 51.197113°N 0.285244°W
An old corn mill site. The mill house survives along with a few walls of the mill, which had a breastshot waterwheel. In 2006 Tonbridge Civic Society gave an award to a new-build house that incorporated the mill remains.

Branbridges Mill, East Peckham

TQ 673 485 51.211083°N 0.396201°W
This mill was known as "Brantbridge Mill" in 1538, being then valued at £2.6s.8d., owned by Sir Thomas Wyatt. In later years it was run by the Arnold family, who were previously at Bartley Mill

River Teise

The River Teise is a tributary of the River Medway in Kent, England. It begins in Dunorlan Park in Tunbridge Wells. and flows eastwards past Bayham Abbey and then through Lamberhurst...

, Frant

Frant

-Demography:The population of Frant rose steadily from just under 1,100 in 1801 to a peak in 1891 of around 3,500. The records show a marked drop to 1,692 in 1901, but this is due to the transfer of the Broadwater Down parish to Tunbridge Wells that took place in 1894...

. They took the mill in 1890, and the mill was marked as an oil mill on that year's 25" Ordnance Survey

Ordnance Survey

Ordnance Survey , an executive agency and non-ministerial government department of the Government of the United Kingdom, is the national mapping agency for Great Britain, producing maps of Great Britain , and one of the world's largest producers of maps.The name reflects its creation together with...

 map. The waterwheel was replaced by a turbine, then that was replaced by a gas engine, in turn being replaced by an oil engine. Flour production ceased c.1917 and provender milling ceased c.1947. The mill was burnt down in the 1960s.

Hampstead Mill, Yalding

TQ 688 501 approx 51.225017°N 0.418411°W
One of two Domesday sites in Yalding, this was a paper mill in 1872. The site was first used as a chemical works just before the First World War, and eventually became part of ICI

Imperial Chemical Industries

Imperial Chemical Industries was a British chemical company, taken over by AkzoNobel, a Dutch conglomerate, one of the largest chemical producers in the world. In its heyday, ICI was the largest manufacturing company in the British Empire, and commonly regarded as a "bellwether of the British...

.

Borstal Mill

An old tide mill

Tide mill

A tide mill is a water mill driven by tidal rise and fall. A dam with a sluice is created across a suitable tidal inlet, or a section of river estuary is made into a reservoir. As the tide comes in, it enters the mill pond through a one way gate, and this gate closes automatically when the tide...

 site. The mill was the property of the See of Rochester in 1323, being rebuilt by Hamo de Hethe

Hamo Hethe

Hamo Hethe was a medieval Bishop of Rochester. He was elected on 18 March 1317 and consecrated on 26 August 1319. He resigned the see in early 1352 before his death on 4 May 1352....

 in that year.

Priory Mill, Rochester

This was a tide mill. It stood at the end of George Lane near the town walls. The mill was demolished in the seventeenth century.

Strood Tide Mill

TQ 740 690 51.393357°N 0.499625°W
The site of this mill is marked by Water Mill Wharf, north of the railway bridge. It belonged to Temple Strood Manor and in the mid-fourteenth century contained "two water mills under one roof". An engraving by S & N Buck dated 1721 shows the mill, and it appears in "A Distant View of Rochester and Chatham" by Joshua Farington, RA, in 1790. A sketch by W H Reynolds shows the mill in greater detail, and was done at a later date. The mill had two undershot waterwheels and was valued in the Church Rate Books of 1764 at £64.1s.1d. Latterly a steam engine

Steam engine

A steam engine is a heat engine that performs mechanical work using steam as its working fluid.Steam engines are external combustion engines, where the working fluid is separate from the combustion products. Non-combustion heat sources such as solar power, nuclear power or geothermal energy may be...

 was installed to enable the mill to work for longer periods. The mill was demolished in 1858. Latterly it drove five pairs of millstones, one wheel worked two pairs of French Burr stones and one pair of Peak stones. The other wheel worked two pairs of French Burr stones, wheat cleaners, flour dressers and the sack hoist.

Chatham Tide Mill

TQ 757 683 51.386546°N 0.523689°W
There was a tide mill marked on 1575/1610 maps of the Brook area of Chatham, where the Old Bourne River entered the Medway. By 1765, the Mill is not on the map and the river had been canalised, running alongside the road known as the Brook, and soon after it had been culverted.

Watermills on the tributaries.

The vast majority of the watermills were on the tributaries. The watermills on the tributaries feeding in above Penshurst

Penshurst

Penshurst is a village and civil parish in the Sevenoaks district of Kent, England. The parish is located on the northern slopes of the Weald, west of Tonbridge. Within the parish boundaries are the two villages of Penshurst and Fordcombe, with a combined population of some 1,479 persons. The...

 are covered in the Upper tribs article, while those watermills on the tributaries feeding in between Penshurst and Yalding

Yalding

Yalding is a village and part of Yalding civil parish in the Maidstone District of Kent, England.The village is situated six miles south-west of Maidstone at a point where the Rivers Teise and Beult join the River Medway....

 are covered in the Middle tribs article. Those on the tributaries feeding in below Yalding are covered in the Lower tribs article.

Sources

=

Further reading

• Donald Maxwell. Unknown Kent (G. P. Putnam's sons, 1922) pp. 13-32.