Monument record 6236/1/1 - Flore Mill

Former mill and adjoining mill. The mill house was described as 'newly erected' in 1826. Locally listed building.

{1} Post med brick building with slate roof; converted into a house by 1960s;

{4} The two storey brick building was originally the corn mill, and the three storey building adjoining it on the north was the mill house.

{5} History:
1086 Domesday survey records at Flora, one mill rendering l0s.; one mill rendering 5s.; and part of a mill rendering 5s.
1296 Reference to a mill at Flore.
1668 Mill was part of Flore House Estate.
1789 George Jakeman insured on his dwelling house and mill adjoining in Flore, stone and thatched, for £50.
1826 Richard Park insured a water corn mill in Flore carrying three pairs of stones with iron waterwheel, and adjoining dwelling house, newly erected, brick and stone and slate, for £1000.
c.1852 Endorsement of insurance policy that a portable steam engine used on the premises for grinding wheat, two pairs of stones, in a separate barn.
1878 Flore Mills advertised for sale.
1880 Meeting at Weedon concerning the problem of floods, blamed Flore Mill as an obstruction across the river. The owner said he was willing to do away with the mill.
1885 No miller given at Flore Mill in trade directory this year and subsequent years.
1924 Mill etc. no longer part of Flore House Estate.
1960s. By this time mill had been cleared of machinery.
Documentary sources: Flore Enclosure map of 1779 shows a building across the river at this point, unnamed; 1791 Eyre’s & Jefferies map shows it, un-named; 1813 survey plan for OS marks it Floore Mill; and Bryant’s 1827 map shows it, un-named.

The mill-house has three storeys and is also of red brick, with a blue slated gable roof at a higher level than the adjoining mill. There are chimney stacks at each end and a larger one part way along the ridge.

The former mill is a two-storey red brick building of four bays. On the east side (fronting the road) the first storey has a single door in the south bay, windows in the middle two bays and a double door in the north bay. The second storey has a taking-in door in the south bay and windows in each of the other bays. The original 25-light cast iron window frames have been replaced by 12-light wooden frames. On the west side there are two small windows at the second-storey and a door at the north end of the first-storey and one small window near the south end. The gable roof is blue slated. The south part of the mill building is over the river, which passes beneath in two channels as indicated by the two arches visible on the east side of the road bridge. One of these channels would have been the wheel race, the other providing a by-pass.

{7} Flore Mill is an unlisted small collection of buildings, perhaps dating from the first quarter of the 19th century although the site has probably been used for milling for many years before this. The photos are of the interior of the mill building which is of two and a half stories. None of the mill machinery survives but there is excellent timberwork remaining, particularly the queenpost roof in the uppermost floor. The means of regulating the flow of water through the structure remains. The structure is brick with a modern welsh slate roof; there are no original windows, but two original doors remain.

{9} It is possible that the mill building dated from 1780. There was reference to this area in the Enclosure Award 1779, when there was a ford at the Mill. Deeds to Flore House mention 3 water mills under one roof in 1668 and 2 water mills under one roof in 1771. By 1840 the reference was to a mill occupied by George Jakeman.
A pair of stones remained on the first floor of the mill until 1997 when the new owner renovated all the buildings.
There was an old building, of stone and tiled roof, built before 1808 on land at the bottom of Mill Lane adjacent to the mill pond. This wa originally a wagon hovel and granary, but finally a cattle shed. It was demolished about 1978 and only bits of walls remain.

{6} The two storey brick building was originally the corn mill, and the three storey building adjoining it on the north was the mill house.

<1> Starmer G.H., 1965, CBA Record Cards: Industrial Archaeology in Northamptonshire, (unchecked) (Recording Form (Not SMR)). SNN1611.

<2> Starmer G.H., 1982, National Register of Industrial Monuments, (part checked) (Catalogue). SNN563.

<3> Smith J., 2002, Dredgings from Flore Millpond, (checked) (Notes). SNN102304.

<4> Ellison, M., 1997, Flore Mill, (unchecked) (Slides). SNN108938.

<5> STARMER G., 2002?, Northamptonshire Watermills Survey 2001 - 2002 (A-H), p.56 (checked) (Report). SNN105520.

<6> Northamptonshire Industrial Archaeology Group, 2001, NIAG Industrial Gazetteer, (part checked) (Draft). SNN101121.

<7> Ellison, M., 1997, SMR Report Form, (checked) (SMR Report Form). SNN49294.

<8> Roger Coy Partnership, 1997, Flore Mill: Plans as Existing and Proposed, (checked) (Plan). SNN56090.

<9> Smith, J., 1998, Comments on Items in the Sites and Monuments Record for Flore, {unchecked) (Notes). SNN106767.

<10> Daventry District Council, 2018, Flore Conservation Area Appraisal and Management Plan (Policy Document). SNN112348.

Record last edited

May 23 2022 11:44AM