Monument record 805/20 - Fotheringhay Mill

SMR note: sources do not agree as to position of this monument

{1} A water mill existed in Fotheringhay in 1086. It is recorded again in 1289. The mill was let to farm in 1468-9, when repair were conducted, and further repairs took place in 1470-1. In 1548 the mill lay to the north of the New Inn on the west side of the lane running from the village. At that time the mill was part of the demesne of the royal manor and included a mill holm and a little yard on the south side. It would appear however in 1533 to have been farmed to the College. It lay adjacent to the south side of the mill brook, which in 1624 ran on the north of the pond north of the castle. The stream adjacent Butts Close is described in the C18th as the mill dam. In 1560 this mill, formerly leased by the College was leased out once more. A mill still existed in 1791 and 1804 but is no longer present on the 1807 map and had certainly been demolished by 1832. The mill was served by a leat, called the mill dam, which skirted the edge of the floodplain of the Willow Brook to the north of the village. The outflow ran east to skirt the castle and rejoin the Nene to the east of the castle.

{5} Mill shown on Eyres map of 1791, to the west of the original road between Fotheringhay and Nassington.

{6} History:
1086 Domesday survey records that Countess Judith held Fodringeia with one mill rendering 8s. It has been suggested that this mill is not at the location given above because the brook for this probably did not exist until after the building of the castle
1762 Militia list gives Richard Freeman, miller, and Thomas Daws, miller prentice, at Fotheringhay.
1804 Mill at Fotheringhay for slae
1832 By this date mill probably had been demolished since it is not shown on a map for an insurance valuation
Documentary sources: John Harris's 1712 map marks Mill at Fotheringhay but on the Willow Brok; 1791 Eyre's and Jeffries map shows a mill symbol at TL06229349 but Bryant's 1827 map does not show a mill there.

Foard, G. and Britnell, T., 2003, Fotheringhay: A New Perspective from the 1640's, pp.140-3 (checked) (Article). SNN103924.

<1> FOARD G., 1999, Northamptonshire Extensive Urban Survey: Fotheringhay (Medieval and Post Medieval), (unchecked) (Digital archive). SNN100481.

<2> 1696, Fotheringhay 1696, (unchecked) (Map). SNN100483.

<3> 1793, Fotheringhay Inclosure Map 1793, (unchecked) (Map). SNN100484.

<4> 1806, 1806 Schedule to 1716 map, (unchecked) (Map). SNN100482.

<5> Eyre T. (Revised by Jefferys T.), 1779, Map of the County of Northamptonshire, (unchecked) (Map). SNN1852.

<6> STARMER G., 2002?, Northamptonshire Watermills Survey 2001 - 2002 (A-H), p.57 (checked) (Report). SNN105520.

Record last edited

May 30 2012 11:05AM