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Guest
1850 map showing (just about) Duddeston Mill note the cavalry barracks in Great Brook St
The map shows that the brook that ran along Aston Brook Street was the city boundary as it ran through Brum but I have cropped map to show this bit
The map shows that the brook that ran along Aston Brook Street was the city boundary as it ran through Brum but I have cropped map to show this bit
Hi Cromwell, on your map that you have hanging in your hallway, does it show 2 water mills in Coleshill, according to way back, one was called Le Malt Mille and the other was called Granescote Mylle, I am persuming that one of these eventually became Blythe Mill, got to do abit more looking up on that, the other I assume was down the bottom of the High Street/Station Road. Thanks in advance for re looking at your map, I couldn't quite see them on the map you have already posted even though Coleshill is on the map :flower:
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Loisand I have a few pics of Cole End mill and Forge mill in Coleshill and pic of the old windmill stump
names might be 19th century
Coleshill Raiway Station was once Forge Mills Railway Station Renamed in 1923 The Railway Inn at Whitacre was also in Foge Mills, so as you can see the names changed a lot
Cole End Mill was just a few feet past the old bridge in Coleshill last used 1918 and was pulled down just before WW2
names might be 19th century
Coleshill Raiway Station was once Forge Mills Railway Station Renamed in 1923 The Railway Inn at Whitacre was also in Foge Mills, so as you can see the names changed a lot
Cole End Mill was just a few feet past the old bridge in Coleshill last used 1918 and was pulled down just before WW2
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Loisand
The names in Coleshill changed like the weather Bacons End Bridge was know as Johnny Warner's Bridge.
in 1886 when Shustoke Church caught fire and the alarm was raised the local fire station kept all their horses in a field, so you can picture the scene chasing after the horses to hitch them to the fire tender and then rushing to Shustoke Church, they got their in 35 minutes and the only thing the 15 man crew saved were the altar coverings
The names in Coleshill changed like the weather Bacons End Bridge was know as Johnny Warner's Bridge.
in 1886 when Shustoke Church caught fire and the alarm was raised the local fire station kept all their horses in a field, so you can picture the scene chasing after the horses to hitch them to the fire tender and then rushing to Shustoke Church, they got their in 35 minutes and the only thing the 15 man crew saved were the altar coverings
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Robert
I have not got that far up the river yet but will get there, I will look up what I have
you are not talking about J.R.R. Tolkien are you who lived local and in the Hobbit mention's the Great Mill ?
I have not got that far up the river yet but will get there, I will look up what I have
you are not talking about J.R.R. Tolkien are you who lived local and in the Hobbit mention's the Great Mill ?
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Guest
Loisand, Scanned a section of1953 map for you so you have a better idea of were Blyth (note the spelling again E has vanished) the blue X I have put on the map is were they uncovered Roman ruins Mosaic Floors etc. about 25 years back I watched the excavations (dig) with my son Pete quite amazing. It was all recorded and then covered over to be built on I think, as I never went back to find out.
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Guest
After studying a lot of maps over the last couple of days I think I have come up with the answer over Aston Brook based on the maps I have seen (a lot I have not)
Up to 1758 the River (or Brook) was the Bourne then from about 1758 till 1866 it was changed and altered nearly every year when people wanted water for the mills
The river was diverted just by the Great Pool at Soho which became Aston Brook as it flowed through Aston, slowly one by one the mills became redundant the pools and water course was filled in for housing and roads as Birmingham started to expand so from 1866 it then became Hockley Brook.
So due to my reckoning Aston Brook was only in existence for about 100 years.
The Map taken from my book Black’s Guide to Warwickshire date1866
Shows Aston Brook shrinking back from the mill pool, which was later, filled in.
Up to 1758 the River (or Brook) was the Bourne then from about 1758 till 1866 it was changed and altered nearly every year when people wanted water for the mills
The river was diverted just by the Great Pool at Soho which became Aston Brook as it flowed through Aston, slowly one by one the mills became redundant the pools and water course was filled in for housing and roads as Birmingham started to expand so from 1866 it then became Hockley Brook.
So due to my reckoning Aston Brook was only in existence for about 100 years.
The Map taken from my book Black’s Guide to Warwickshire date1866
Shows Aston Brook shrinking back from the mill pool, which was later, filled in.
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Guest
What you are trying to say I think is something was dug up at Sarehole Mill
I dont know anything about that,perhaps others do.if you know the rough dates check the Mail in the Library Archives
I dont know anything about that,perhaps others do.if you know the rough dates check the Mail in the Library Archives
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Rod, Got you to blame for the article coming up, on Hockley Abbey asking me about Aston Brook but its a comical read.
gingerjon
GONE BUT NOT FORGOTTEN R.I.P.
Hill Hook Mill
I have managed at last to go to Hill Hook Mill and take some photographs of this area of Blake farm which is now a housing estate but low and behold the pool is still there see above (scroll up) it turns out that this pool is topped up by the three pools in Sutton park and in 1650 this pool fed the corn mill on this site the mill race is still here and some remains of the olf mill which was vandalised and finally knocked down in 1970 will edit more of the photographs soon
I have managed at last to go to Hill Hook Mill and take some photographs of this area of Blake farm which is now a housing estate but low and behold the pool is still there see above (scroll up) it turns out that this pool is topped up by the three pools in Sutton park and in 1650 this pool fed the corn mill on this site the mill race is still here and some remains of the olf mill which was vandalised and finally knocked down in 1970 will edit more of the photographs soon
Aston brook Mill with its pool lay above the point where the Aston Road crosses the Hockley Brook. It may have been the newly built fueling mill in the tenure of Richard Short in 1532 and one of the two fueling mills in Aston in 1585. In 1721 it was a fueling mill in the tenure of Zachary Gisbourne, it was apparently at this time also known as Bourn Work Mill. It was called Gisbourne's Mill in 1758, and Hoopers Mill in 1791, Thomas Hooper had earlier been the tenant of Aston Corn Mill and may have converted Aston Brook Mill for flour milling. In 1860 an agreement was made between Walter and Thomas Phillips, tenants and late owners of the mills, and John Rose of Thimble Mill on the use of the waters of the brook. Thomas Phillips was still miller in 1830 when it was known as Mr Phillips Mill, but the mill was sometimes called Aston Mill at this time. A steam engine had been installed in the premises by 1830 when steammill power was advertized as to let, and John Phillips was then described as a timber merchant and wood turner. The water wheel continued to be used for flour milling. Thomas Powell was miller in 1850 and William Best in 1854, in 1855 the property came into the hands of the Evans family. During their tenure which lasted at least until 1875, the premises were still used both for flour milling and other trades. It was said that £10,000 worth of damage was done in a fire there in 1862. The pools had disappeared by 1887-8, but Edward Evans was a corn merchant at Aston Brook Flour Mills in 1908. The site is marked by Pool Street, Powel Street and Phillips Street. :flower: :cat:
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Loisand, Wonderful !!! Nice to see you are still with the flow of the river and the mills I have learnt a lot on this subject with the input shown here.
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Rod
Guest
Loisand & Cromwell ...... thats the information I currently have ..... I would love to track this down with a map, and actually pinpoint it. I thought I might also be able to achive this with possibly using the census. It's just a question of finding more time.
When you say Fueling mill I wonder if this is also another way of saying Fulling Mill?
Thank you both for input into this, I know well sort it all out.
When you say Fueling mill I wonder if this is also another way of saying Fulling Mill?
Thank you both for input into this, I know well sort it all out.
hi postie , what about smith , stone and knight , the paper mills in nechells, didn,t they start there bussiness , at the bottom of long acre hill in the early 1940,s when the local kids started knocking on house to asked have you any old waste paper they would dash down the lichfield rd to aston rail way station with abarrow or a pram full of old news paper to weigh it in and get half a crown if you was lucky enough, or what about the rolling mills behind cuckoo bridge it was called the delta , doe,s any body recall those days ,?,.
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Astonian
Allready had an article on Smith Stone and Knight, but I earnt all my money gathering waste paper to take to the place you are talking about, we would go in with a pram load of newspapers and sneak out with a pram load of comics
Allready had an article on Smith Stone and Knight, but I earnt all my money gathering waste paper to take to the place you are talking about, we would go in with a pram load of newspapers and sneak out with a pram load of comics
DUDDESTON MILL and pool was on the west of the Rea above Duddeston Mill Road.  The original mill was most probably built around 1530, it was then rebuilt on a new site in the 1570's.  It was called " Three new water corn mills in Duddeston" in an agreement between Edward Holte of Duddeston and Edward Arden, the occupier of Saltley Mill on the use of a new water way there. Holte leased to Arden in the same year a place where in times  past a mill stood called old Duddeston Mill .
It remained the corn mill of the Manor throughout the 17 th century.  It was held by Joseph Farmer at his death in 1741 and then in 1744 by James Farmer, Ironmonger, the lease was then for all corn and other mills.  In 1756 Hutton went with Will Ryland to Horton's at Duddeston Mill to have some silver rolled.  The mill continued to be mainly a rolling mill while the Farmers who were Ironmongers held the lease.  The rebuilding of Saltley Mill Weir in 1822 led to a dispute with the occupiers of both Duddeston and Saltley mills which came to be settled by Benjamin Brentnail of Duddeston and John Woodhall of Saltley in 1829.  The mill was then a corn mill.  Galton  family then owned the mill at the beginning of the 19 th century and the Evans family were tenants between 1845 and 1865. Shortly afterwards the mill pool was drained and the "Great More ", which had been between the mill leat and the river became a railway goods yard, still locally known as " mill meadow".
The course of the mill leat became part of the river itself. The building had become a saw mill by the 1887 but seems to have fallen into disuse shortly afterwards.
It remained the corn mill of the Manor throughout the 17 th century.  It was held by Joseph Farmer at his death in 1741 and then in 1744 by James Farmer, Ironmonger, the lease was then for all corn and other mills.  In 1756 Hutton went with Will Ryland to Horton's at Duddeston Mill to have some silver rolled.  The mill continued to be mainly a rolling mill while the Farmers who were Ironmongers held the lease.  The rebuilding of Saltley Mill Weir in 1822 led to a dispute with the occupiers of both Duddeston and Saltley mills which came to be settled by Benjamin Brentnail of Duddeston and John Woodhall of Saltley in 1829.  The mill was then a corn mill.  Galton  family then owned the mill at the beginning of the 19 th century and the Evans family were tenants between 1845 and 1865. Shortly afterwards the mill pool was drained and the "Great More ", which had been between the mill leat and the river became a railway goods yard, still locally known as " mill meadow".
The course of the mill leat became part of the river itself. The building had become a saw mill by the 1887 but seems to have fallen into disuse shortly afterwards.
SALTLEY MILL. and its pool were on the east of the Rea above Saltley Bridge. The mill existed around 1542-3. When James Wygnall ( or Wednall) was tenant. It was called "New Mill" on the agreement in 1576, this is when it was occupied by Edward Arden. In 1618 when Sir Thomas Holte leased it to Zachary Taylor, it was fully equipted for corn grinding and also had two sets of millstones, it was still in existence in 1677. It was then converted to a blade mill by 1689, was leased as such in 1696. In 1760 it was in the tenure of the Farmer family and maybe used as a rolling mill. The rebuilding of the mill weir gave course for a dispute between the successive occupiers of Duddeston and Saltley Mills which was settled by payment of compensation in 1829 by John Woodhall of Saltley. Woodhalls tenants in 1828-30 were W & J Butler, William Butler being the tenant in 1833, the mill at this time was a corn mill. S Butler & Co were tenants at Saltley Wire Mills in 1850 ,the mill still existed in 1880 but had disappeared by 1887-8. This site was then occupied by a Gasholder.
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Ernie
Thank you very much for all that info, which most will got on the main Brum Site O0
Thank you very much for all that info, which most will got on the main Brum Site O0
WILLETT'S MEADOW MILL.  In 1698 a person named Robert Rotten who's family were the owners of some land near the Rea at Bordesley was ordered to pay 2s for a trespass onto the Lords waste near Duddeston Bridge.  It was said that a John Greaves built a blade mill and diverted water from the Rea to drive the mill and was fined.  After this he paid a yearly fee of 4d untill 1711. Rotten had to pay this in addition to the 2s which had also become a rent.  1732 saw the mill  converted to a wire mill which was situated at "Willetts Meadow.  It was Martha Rotten who owned the Mill and the Meadow and John Webster was the tenant.  Jonathan Ruston was the owner in 1754, Ruston's widow Susannah was said in 1763 to have left all her possessions which included Willett's Meadow to her children but the Mill was not mentioned.  It was not marked in 1760.
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Ernie, Just caught up with this reply, great info which adds to the fuller picture of the mills and what happened to them thanks for all that as my friend Loisand will be intrested as well, in the near future we will start to do a detailed report on all the mills round Brum
Cromwell when you get round to doing a more detailed account on the mills around Birmingham please let me know, I have been busy collating quite abit of info on water mills and windmills around the Warwickshire area and like you I have found the imput from this site just adds to the info that probably you and I already have found out, at the same time we are all broadening our knowledge of years gone by. I have even found a wee bit of info on some horse-mills in the Warwickshire area, which broadens the topic even more. Just goes to show that a little bit of information results in a great wad of paper of research, and boy don't i know it. Keep up the good work, because there are lots of mills out there that need researching. :flower: :cat:
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Loisand, Now I have got a new camera I will be doing a bit more on the mills including the ones at Sutton Park, I have about 10 great one hundred year old photo's taken in Sutton park (and none of the are trees) now if I can find the exact spot they were taken (or there abouts ) I plan to take another photo and put them up side by side as the camera returns, so if any local or someone who knows the area well wants to get it touch as a guide I would be grateful.
Getting back to the mills any idea why MillHouse road was so called ,I know its by the River Cole
Getting back to the mills any idea why MillHouse road was so called ,I know its by the River Cole
Hi Cromwell the answer is no but I will look into it for you, you are talking about Millhouse Road Alum Rock area, or is it some other district??? I thought you were talking about Coleshill and I know off the top of my head there is a road to do with the mill name there. Here I go rambling, please point me in the right direce, me thinks you are talking about Coleshill now ???? :flower: :cat: