Monument record 6885/1 - Heygate's Mill

{1} History:
c.800AD Timber beams of this date set in puddle clay were found on the site during excavations for extensions to the Heygate complex in 1951.
1086 The Domesday survey recorded two mills at Buchebroc rendering 40s, a surprisingly high sum for mills with a comparatively low water supply
1784 The mill was washed away in extensive floods and a new one built
1785 Insurance policy shows the new mill was of timber with a tiled roof
1856 The 18th century mill had probably been rebuilt when the mills were for sale and advertised as "large and excellent, fitted with three pairs of stones and worked by water power"
1866 Date stone shows a substantial mill house of Northampton ironstone was added at this time
1941 The mill was gutted by fire. A new brick building was erected to house roller milling plant operated by electric motors using power from the public supply. A small water turbine and generator were installed in the old mill to provide emergency lighting. As production increased large silos were built on the site of the filled-in course of the River Nene which had been diverted along a new cut to the west of the Heygate complex
1974 A second large mill built as the site continued to be developed.

Documentary sources: Eyre's 1779 map shows a mill at Bugbrooke, not on the main river but on a tributary flowing east to join the river a little downstream of Upton Mill; 1813 survey plan for OS marks it Bugbrook Mill; Bryant's 1827 map marks it Bugbrook Mill; and the 1834 1 inch OS map marks it Bugbrook Mill on a long southerly loop from the main river.

<1> STARMER G., 2002?, Northamptonshire Watermills Survey 2001 - 2002 (A-H), p.15 (checked) (Report). SNN105520.

<2> Northamptonshire Industrial Archaeology Group, 1996-2013, Northamptonshire Industrial Archaeology Group Newsletter, Issue108 p.8 (checked) (Newsletter). SNN55360.

Record last edited

Jul 11 2013 10:12AM