Monument record 4148/1 - Site of Post Medieval Watermill

There are references to a second mill in Rockingham in the 16th and 17th centuries. A building stood on this site in 1615 but was no longer there in 1806. Part of an abandoned leet still remains and the site of a building is marked by a low terrace and areas of stone and brick

{?}EARTHWORKS; POST MED WATERMILL; TERRACE; POSSIBLY FOR BUILDING;(?);<REFDUMP PRN376>;

{1} In the 16th and 17th centuries there was a second water mill at Rockingham. The Elizabethan field regulations mention 'Hugh Bayley's Myll' as well as the main (or Over) mill and a document prepared for the Committee for Compounding during the Civil War mentions 'two water milnes and a winde milne'. On the 1615 map its site is presumably the isolated house described as 'Thomas Bayley's' lying beside a leet off the Welland in the north-east corner of the parish. The dried up leet survives and the site of the building is amrked by a terrace with tumbled heaps of stone and brick;

{2} Site of Watermill (SP 87219236), in the extreme NE corner of the parish, by the R.Welland, on alluvium, at a point where a small stream enters the river from the S. There are references in 16th and 17th century documents to a second watermill in Rockingham in addition to the main and older one [SP 89 SE 38], and a building certainly stood on the site in 1615 (Map in Rockingham castle Archives). It was no longer there in 1806. Part of an abandoned leet still remains and the site of the building is marked by a low terrace and areas of stone and brick;

{3}The author argues that the position of a mill site is probably different to what is registered in the SMR (probably more like SP 8711 9239). Rubble scatter of stone and bricks represents the probable location of this mill. An adjacent drain visible he argues could be a mill leet.,

{4}Watermill of post medieval date. Presence of building shown on map of 1615 and a dried up leat. Survey noted stone and brick in general area of the building plus earthworks of former drain or leet and adjacent scarps. This seems to add weight to suggestions that the mill site lies to west of the original SMR location (now changed).

{5} A second watermill is recorded in 16th and 17th centuries and is depicted on a leat adjacent to the Welland at the north east corner of the township in 1615. This mill had gone by 1806. The site is represented by a leat and low terrace with areas of stone and brick.

Although no specific record of the function of the mill has been identified, it is possible that the construction of a second water mill was as a fulling mill related to the development of cloth production at Rockingham in the post medieval period. See section 8.3 'Industry' in main report.

<1> BROWN A.E.; TAYLOR C.C., 1974, The Earthworks of Rockingham and its Neighbourhood, 68-79 (Article). SNN40063.

<2> Royal Commission on The Historical Monuments of England, 1979, An Inventory of The Historical Monuments in The County of Northampton, p. 128/site 10 (Series). SNN77380.

<3> CADMAN G.E., 1991, Several Fields in Rockingham Castle Estate, (unchecked) (Report). SNN40419.

<4> CADMAN G.E., 1993, SMR REPORT FORM, (unchecked) (Notes). SNN50002.

<5> FOARD G., 1999, Northamptonshire Extensive Urban Survey: Rockingham (Medieval and Post Medieval), (unchecked) (Digital archive). SNN100473.

<6> 1615, Map of Rockingham 1615, (unchecked) (Map). SNN100477.

<7> HYLTON T.; MASTERS P., 1998, Empingham to Hannington Anglian Water Pipeline, Northamptonshire Section, Archaeological Evaluation: Stage 1, (unchecked) (Report). SNN63049.

<8> 1806, Map of Rockingham (Map). SNN113085.

Record last edited

Mar 3 2022 4:29PM