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Sarehole Mill

  • Thread starter Thread starter Rod
  • Start date Start date
Not sure what they use to burn in the oven. But it dates to the 1840s originally. Was opened and closed too fast to see.
 
Depends when that was taken as they did a massive clear out of the race and pond a couple of years ago. This was so the mill could produce flour of a saleable quality - or so I was led to believe.
It may that with closure due to covid the mill has not been used and the pond has clogged up again.
 
A Sparks said:
Algae seems to form every year at some point on parts of the river and canal near where I live. I think the sunlight intensifies it.
Click to expand...
Correct A Sparks! When a pond is relatively still there are a couple of things you can do to fix it, wait for the cool weather or as most here do put an impeller in the water to creat movement. It looks like a fountain in the pond but is very effective.
 
Expect many youngsters have fished here. These two lads in 1908 might have been weighing up their prospects of a big catch. Nice view of the Mill behind. (Edit : note the image shows Brook Farm, not Sarehole Mill in the distance). Viv.

248DCD5A-D4A5-4ACE-8916-8325C2CE05C1.jpeg
 
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Viv .... love the photo. I believe that building is Brook Farm (on the old Brook Lane before it was re-directed), and not Sarehole Mill that was further downstream.
 
Yes thanks Geoff I think you’re right. There’s another photo in post #115 of this thread which is labelled Four Arches. Shall edit my post. Viv.
 
Sarehole Mill: rough timeline

Middle Ages: Sarehole Hall [=Sarehole Farm?] was the property of Maxstoke Priory [near Coleshill].
1542: Rebuilt on same site.
Early 18C: Owned by Eaves family of Sarehole Hall. In 1721 it was sold to John Taylor the joint founder of Lloyds Bank and a major landowner in Moseley.
1755: Estate leased by Matthew Boulton [senior]. When his father died the famous Matthew Boulton used the mill for making buttons and metal rolling until he moved to Soho in 1761.
1771: Mill rebuilt & remained in use until 1919.
1861: Andrews family took over the mill and George Andrews was the last miller.
c1890: Sarehole was bought by A.H. Foster a Birmingham solicitor. Did he live at the lovely old house a short way up what is now Wake Green Road? He built the three pairs of semi's [Gracewell Cottages] on the other side of the road reputedly for his servants. Tolkien lived for a time at No. 5 [now 264 Wake Green Rd].
1929: On his death in 1929 A. H. Foster gave Gracewell Cottages, other property and £30,000, to be known as the Gracewell Homes Foster Trust, for the provision of homes for necessitous spinsters or widows, preferably Birmingham residents. The trust is still very active and in 1989 built a further retirement housing complex [in Gracewell Road].
1959: He also left the mill and the meadow to the city with the proviso that George Andrews could remain there until his death [this was in 1959]. It became vandalised and derelict and BCC wanted to demolish it! A vigourous campaign by local people saved it and it re- opened to the public in 1969. It is now part of the Tolkien experience but that is another story.

This was compiled from various websites and reminded me how much "facts" vary from site to site.

There is a talk on Sat March 9th at 3pm in All Saints Church, Kings Heath entitled "There's more to Sarehole Mill than you think". Don't know more that that except tickets are £5 on the door & include tea, coffee & cake. Hope to go.
 
No date here. A horse waits for its owner; perhaps the Miller, a customer collecting grain/flour or A H Foster ? I think the modern view is where the horse was waiting, next to the tree.The branches on the tree haven't been vigorously pruned.

Screenshot_20240712_073509_Chrome.jpg
Screenshot_20240725_100718_Maps.jpg
 
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superdad3 said:
Sarehole Mill: rough timeline

Middle Ages: Sarehole Hall [=Sarehole Farm?] was the property of Maxstoke Priory [near Coleshill].
1542: Rebuilt on same site.
Early 18C: Owned by Eaves family of Sarehole Hall. In 1721 it was sold to John Taylor the joint founder of Lloyds Bank and a major landowner in Moseley.
1755: Estate leased by Matthew Boulton [senior]. When his father died the famous Matthew Boulton used the mill for making buttons and metal rolling until he moved to Soho in 1761.
1771: Mill rebuilt & remained in use until 1919.
1861: Andrews family took over the mill and George Andrews was the last miller.
c1890: Sarehole was bought by A.H. Foster a Birmingham solicitor. Did he live at the lovely old house a short way up what is now Wake Green Road? He built the three pairs of semi's [Gracewell Cottages] on the other side of the road reputedly for his servants. Tolkien lived for a time at No. 5 [now 264 Wake Green Rd].
1929: On his death in 1929 A. H. Foster gave Gracewell Cottages, other property and £30,000, to be known as the Gracewell Homes Foster Trust, for the provision of homes for necessitous spinsters or widows, preferably Birmingham residents. The trust is still very active and in 1989 built a further retirement housing complex [in Gracewell Road].
1959: He also left the mill and the meadow to the city with the proviso that George Andrews could remain there until his death [this was in 1959]. It became vandalised and derelict and BCC wanted to demolish it! A vigourous campaign by local people saved it and it re- opened to the public in 1969. It is now part of the Tolkien experience but that is another story.

This was compiled from various websites and reminded me how much "facts" vary from site to site.

There is a talk on Sat March 9th at 3pm in All Saints Church, Kings Heath entitled "There's more to Sarehole Mill than you think". Don't know more that that except tickets are £5 on the door & include tea, coffee & cake. Hope to go.
Click to expand...
Superdad3, were you able to go to the March 9 gathering, if so how was it anything new revealed?
 
superdad3 said:
Sarehole Mill: rough timeline

Middle Ages: Sarehole Hall [=Sarehole Farm?] was the property of Maxstoke Priory [near Coleshill].
1542: Rebuilt on same site.
Early 18C: Owned by Eaves family of Sarehole Hall. In 1721 it was sold to John Taylor the joint founder of Lloyds Bank and a major landowner in Moseley.
1755: Estate leased by Matthew Boulton [senior]. When his father died the famous Matthew Boulton used the mill for making buttons and metal rolling until he moved to Soho in 1761.
1771: Mill rebuilt & remained in use until 1919.
1861: Andrews family took over the mill and George Andrews was the last miller.
c1890: Sarehole was bought by A.H. Foster a Birmingham solicitor. Did he live at the lovely old house a short way up what is now Wake Green Road? He built the three pairs of semi's [Gracewell Cottages] on the other side of the road reputedly for his servants. Tolkien lived for a time at No. 5 [now 264 Wake Green Rd].
1929: On his death in 1929 A. H. Foster gave Gracewell Cottages, other property and £30,000, to be known as the Gracewell Homes Foster Trust, for the provision of homes for necessitous spinsters or widows, preferably Birmingham residents. The trust is still very active and in 1989 built a further retirement housing complex [in Gracewell Road].
1959: He also left the mill and the meadow to the city with the proviso that George Andrews could remain there until his death [this was in 1959]. It became vandalised and derelict and BCC wanted to demolish it! A vigourous campaign by local people saved it and it re- opened to the public in 1969. It is now part of the Tolkien experience but that is another story.

This was compiled from various websites and reminded me how much "facts" vary from site to site.

There is a talk on Sat March 9th at 3pm in All Saints Church, Kings Heath entitled "There's more to Sarehole Mill than you think". Don't know more that that except tickets are £5 on the door & include tea, coffee & cake. Hope to go.
Click to expand...
Superdad3, were you able to go to the March 9 gathering, if so how was it anything new revealed?
 
Whoops!! Apols only just read this. It was a facinating talk by Jim Andrew [ex Science Museum}. Not at all what I expected and explained in detail how the water supply to the mill was arranged and the various leats etc. Much more interesting than it sounds and a very different approach.

That said, the reason I signed in was to post a copy of this 1905 photograph of the mill labelled [of course!] in Moseley.

1756568025895.jpeg
 
superdad3 said:
Whoops!! Apols only just read this. It was a facinating talk by Jim Andrew [ex Science Museum}. Not at all what I expected and explained in detail how the water supply to the mill was arranged and the various leats etc. Much more interesting than it sounds and a very different approach.

That said, the reason I signed in was to post a copy of this 1905 photograph of the mill labelled [of course!] in Moseley.

View attachment 208021
Click to expand...
Saw used the word “leats” which I have no familiarity with. I did Google for clarification. Learned something today!
Do you have any idea where the term came from. It is according to Google mostly used in Wales and the Southern part of England.
Sounds like a great session!
 
According to the OED, the earliest use of the word was in Middle English in 1279. It probably comes from the Old English word gelǣt, which is a channel. This. in turn, comes from the Old English verb lǣtan, which means to let.
 
mikejee said:
According to the OED, the earliest use of the word was in Middle English in 1279. It probably comes from the Old English word gelǣt, which is a channel. This. in turn, comes from the Old English verb lǣtan, which means to let.
Click to expand...
Thank you Mike, that insight much appreciated! I find that we can learn so much from the origin of words. At least from my perspective…
 
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