Monument record 6239/1/1 - Harlestone Mill

Post-medieval mill demolished in 1999

{1}Brick building; roof of blue slate; 2 storey building but only 1 level visible above ground level; next to mill pond; wheel 14ft diam; red brick chimney built for steam engine; some machinery still in place in 1970s;,{2}Mill building in state of dereliction. Principally brick, some stone to south east elevation. Corrugated roof, north east wall collapsed - some machinery and mill stone evident. Tall chimney to north east portion of building still extant.

{3} Corn mill of two storeys, of stone with a slate roof and at the north west end a later extension housed a steam engine and boiler. These have long gone but the mill still has the waterwheel and two pairs of stones driven from a line shaft. Despite attempts at preservation in the early 1970s, the building is now in a ruinous condition

{4}OS mapping appears to show more buildings around mill complex than there are on site. Possible that demolition of at least one structure may have already taken place.

{5} 1086 Domesday survey records Herolvestone with one mill rendering 2s.
C1280s Reference to a mill called Old Milne Hul.
1299 £9 6s 4d spent to make a water-mill in the Whetcroft, where there had been a mill 'in ancient times'.
1695 John Lamley, miller, Harlestone.
1753 John Andrew of Creaton bought from William, Viscount Barrington, and Mary, his wife, the manor of Harleston 'with messuages and mills' for £4000.
1769 Robert Andrew of Harleston left various famrs and mill in Harleston to his three daughters.
1829 Early Spencer purchased the freehold of Harlestone Park Estate which included a watermill working two pairs of stones, mill gear, machinery, and a mill-house.
C1890 Allchin single cylinder horizontal steam engine installed to supplement waterwheel.
1910 Last time Harlestone Mill appeared in a trade directory.
1970 Early Spencer showed interest in preserving mill and involved NIAG in restoring it. After making the building secure from the weather and unauthorised entry. No further work undertaken.
1986 Althorp Estate agreed for a private tenant to restore the buildings and planning approval for the project was obtained.
1990s By this time a large part of the wall on the east side had fallen away as a result of slates having been removed.
1999 Mill and associated buidings had become dangerous and subject to vandalism so were demolished and the site cleared.
Only the pond, with mill dam and sluice gates to underground chamber for overflow into Harlestone Brook, remain.

<1> Starmer G.H., 1971, CBA Record Cards: Industrial Archaeology in Northamptonshire, (unchecked) (Recording Form (Not SMR)). SNN1615.

<2> ELLISON M., 1997, SMR REPORT FORM, (unchecked) (Notes). SNN49285.

<3> Northamptonshire Industrial Archaeology Group, 2001, A Guide To The Industrial Heritage Of Northamptonshire, (unchecked) (Gazetteer). SNN104759.

<4> ELLISON M., 1997, SMR REPORT FORM, (unchecked) (Notes). SNN49288.

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

Record last edited

Oct 9 2020 2:21PM