THE SMOCK MILL by Mulbarton Common
The windmill on the common was a smock mill. It had a tall wooden tower with 10 sides. On top was a cap which moved round so that the sails faced the wind. Inside there were 6 floors. The mill was used to grind grain into flour.
A house is marked at this location on the 1724 map of Mulbarton, but there is no hint of a mill. The only mention of a mill beside a track that is now The Rosary. The mill of Mill House by the Common is marked on Faden's map of 1797. William Toll appears as 'miller' at Mulbarton in the Poll Books for 1796, 1799 and 1802. Some time after that, Andrew Spratt worked the mill in conjunction with Saxlingham water mill. He died in February 1824, and both mills were put up for sale by auction in 1825. An advert in the Norfolk Chronicle of 9th April 1825 states:
To be sold by Auction
By WM. BUTCHER
At the Bowling Green Inn, Chapel Field, Norwich
On Saturday 30 April 1825 at 5 o'clock in 3 Lots
Lot 1. Water mill....Saxlingham
Lot 2. All that much admired well built Tower Wind Mill, with patent sails, brick and tiled dwelling house, baking office, granaries, outbuildings, garden and productive orchard adjoining, delightfully situate in the pleasant village of Mulbarton by the side of the valuable Common in that parish and over which it has a right of depasturing and is now in the occupation of Mr. Thomas Spratt.
The Mill is certainly not surpassed by any other Windmill in the county of Norfolk, it stands exceedingly well for Trade and is in the best possible state of repair, drives three pair of stones, has two flour mills, horse mill etc. etc. The orchard contains nearly 2 acres and there are about 100 fruit trees of the best quality planted therein.
Lot 3. Three roods of Arable land...
Possession of the whole of the above Property will be given on the 6th day of July next.
Apply to Mr. Robert Spratt, Shottisham, Messrs. Sewell, Blake & Keith, Solicitors, or to Wm. Butcher, Auctioneer, Estate Agent, Norwich at whose office Plans of the different estates may be seen.
The business seems to have been continued by William and Thomas Spratt, Thomas signing a notice in the Norfolk Chronicle, 24th Dec. 1825 undertaking to use the 'New Imperial Bushell' of 2218.192 cubic inches from the beginning of 1826. William and Thomas dissolved their partnership in 1828 ''by mutual consent'' with a notice in the Norfolk Chronicle, 29th March 1828, and the following year the mill was for sale again.
At the time of the 1841 Tithe Award, it was owned by Miss Elizabeth Spratt and occupied by Charles Cremer, who is mentioned in a report in the Norwich Mercury in August 1843 when the sails were ripped off in a gale:
Norwich Mercury, August 1843
MULBARTON
(re. Storm of 9th August 1843)
Mr. Cremer's mill had its sails torn off and then falling on the warehouse adjoining injured it considerably. Mr. Cremer's loss is estimated at £300.
From his will, Charles Cremer was evidently related by marriage to the Spratt family.
In 1847, an item in the Norfolk Chronicle announced that the same Mr. Cremer had taken over the maltster's business at the southern end of the common.
Norfolk Chronicle, 16th October 1847
C. Cremer, Miller and Maltster, Mulbarton
Having engaged the old established Malting Business at Mulbarton (many years in the occupation of Mr. Robert Mantes) begs to solicit the favour of a continuance of such Customers who have hitherto dealt there and of the public in general, who will oblige him with their Orders, assuring them that they may rely upon having Malt and Hops of the first rate quality.
He stayed at the mill until 1858, and probably retired to be 'a farmer of Bracon Ash' - although he took over the other Mulbarton tower mill in 1863, and continued to own and rent out both the Mulbarton mills.
He was followed as miller by David Blomfield in 1859. William Howes, miller from 1863, died 11th August 1867 intestate, and his widow, Elizabeth, was administratix of his estate. Horace Candler then took on the mill and worked it till it was offered for sale or to let in 1875:
Norfolk Chronicle, 22nd May 1875
MULBARTON
To be SOLD or LET, a first class situation as a WINDMILL with patent sails, 4 pairs of stones, 1 Flour Mill, with Warehouse attached with 2 Flour Mills, Meal, Corn and Pollard Bins and stowage for a large quantity of goods. A comfortable Dwelling House, Bake office, Granary, 2 Stables and Outbuildings, 2 Gardens, productive Orchard and right of common. The Mill is doing a good business. Possession can be had by next Michaelmas.
Apply to C. Cremer, Bracon Ash.
With four pairs of millstones, it must have been a busy mill
In the Poor Rate Assessment book for 1875-6 the owner is given as Miss Spratt. She was Emma Spratt, niece of Charles Cremer's wife. George William Thompson, farmer, was the tenant and the mill remained with his family for many years. The rate book entries indicate that land with the mill amounted to 25 acres, 1 rood, 26 perches - a large area, with a total rental value of £80 and rateable value of £4. 17s 6d, yet Mr. G. Thompson also rented 3 roods of land in The Rosery from the Trustees of the Poor.
A steam engine was added in 1883 to keep the mill working when there was no wind. The chimney shows up clearly on old photos. By 1884, Alfred Thompson was running the mill by: a bill for Mr. James Turner for 1884 shows the bill-heading changed by hand from G. W. Thompson to A. Thompson. One of two employees in 1893 was William Lant Duffield, who later moved to Mattishall and then to Saxlingham Mill where Duffield's milling business still exists.
In 1894 the mill was up for sale again - this time by auction by the executors of Emma Spratt. It was bought by Alfred Thompson as the sitting tenant:
Norfolk Chronicle, 1st September 1894
MULBARTON
The Valuable Property known as Mulbarton Mill, with neat Residence, Gardens, Orchard and Farm Buildings, standing in a good position, with long frontage to the High Road and the Common, with Common Rights of Pasturage.
Messrs. SPELMAN have received instructions from the Executors of the late Miss Emma Spratt to Sell by Auction on Saturday 15 at 3 o'clock at the Royal Hotel, Norwich, the above Estate, now in the occupation of Mr. A. Thompson. The Mill stands well for wind, and with the other buildings is in thorough substantial repair and the total content is about two acres.
It seems strange that there is no mention of the steam facility in the advert.
In 1910, the mill was struck by lightning, as the following report in the Dereham & Fakenham Times of 9th July 1910 describes:
On Thursday 30th ult. a severe storm passed over Mulbarton and district. The mill at Mulbarton had one of the sails struck and the vanes were shattered, pieces of wood being thrown to a considerable distance. The owner, Mr. A Thompson and his employee, Mr. A. Middleton, were working in the mill at the time and were thrown to the ground when the lightning struck the chain which is used inside the mill to pull up the sacks. This is said to be the third time this mill has been struck.
The Mr. A. Middleton mentioned may have been a relative of Mr. Middleton, postmaster, who moved to Mulbarton in 1899 and had a substantial house built next to Mill House as his home and the village Post Office.
By 1912, Alfred Thompson was using auxiliary power only, and by 1931 the mill machinery had been dismantled and a conical roof fitted to seal the mill - as can be seen in the photo taken from the village pond. A photograph of 1934 shows its derelict condition. In the early days of World War II, when there was some paranoia about a possible enemy invasion, the mill tower and church tower were considered ideal landmarks to guide aircraft to land on Mulbarton Common, so all or part of the mill was demolished, but the chimney remained.
Only the Mill House remains today, along with the foundations of the chimney. In a very dry year, the outline of the foundation of the windmill reappears in the parched lawn. One of the French millstones is on the patio. The back part of the house was a simple cottage, whose floor was lowered when the building was underpinned recently. The elegant front of the house is an addition, probably from the early part of the 19th century. The old bake-house survives as an additional room, but the ovens were removed in the late 1970s. A small building on the southern boundary is a former forge, still with its fireplace and chimney.
Mill details:
White 10-sided smock mill.
2-storey brick base with vertical, stepped walls
4 double-shuttered sails, 9 bays of 3
Conical cap with ball finial and extension over fan stage
6-bladed fan
Stage at 2nd floor, strutted below to base wall
6 floors
Chain pole
3 pairs of French burr stones and 1 pair of Peak
Dressing machine
Oat crusher
[Sources: Mulbarton, The Common, Smock Mill - copy of notes made by Harry Apling of Dereham, given to Mr. & Mrs. Fairclough of Mill H
