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c.1900
painting by Mrs. Melicent Wathen
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Bolwick Mill
The Mermaid |
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c.1900
painting by Mrs. Melicent Wathen
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Bolwick watermill was an estate mill originally belonging to Bolwick Hall. The Hall appears in Domesday and was given by King John to Hugh de Boves who then passed it to Henry de Bolevic, from whom it took its name. By 1872 the Hall had only changed hands eleven times. Original Saxon walls still exist in the centre part and traces of Tudor and other architectures can be seen. The present exterior was added c.1800. The gardens were originally laid out by Humphrey Repton. |
Bolwick mill and the Hall were actually always in the parish of Aylsham despite being so close to Marsham. |
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Doubtless several mills were on the site before the final structure was built in 1812 and renovated in 1889. The mill was set below the level of a dam in the Mermaid that formed Bolwick Lake. The volume of water produced by the Mermaid was not great, so the maximum available drop was required to run the mill whilst conserving water. |
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Painted by Bob Melton onto a postcard mailed on
15th March 1907 when he was aged 10 |
c.1920
the lucum has gone. Robert Melton stands on the first floor and his
father, Edward near the open door on the gable end |
Note 2. A Right of Way. |
The following memorandum is written on the spare pages at the end of the First Book. The Way now remains as a Footpath only. " In perpetuam Rei Memoriam," Know all men by these presents that we whose names are here underwritten, being ancient Inhabitants of Marsham, the first of which did at the Court in the former yeare 1698 give in his evidence and testimony to the Steward Colonell Justice John Ayd Esquire openly in the presence of all the Tenants and Inhabitants, and the rest of us which were ready to give in our evidence and testimony at the last Court October the 18th 1699 but prevented by the open acknowledgments of the proprietors of the lands through which the aforesaid way lieth, & which we are ready to depose most solemnly upon oath whenever we shall be required, before any Judge or Magistrate or Master of Chancery, that we have known this drift way to & from the old Parsonage as before mentioned for above fiftie years and never knew or heard anything to the contrary, but that it hath been time out of mind successively from age to age & from generation to generation : witnesse our hands this 27th day of December 1699.” This introduction is followed by several statements and the relevant one for the mill is:- “ALICE ALLEN (her + marke) being now threescore & one years of age borne at Balwick M'll her father Oliver Smith, miller & wheelwright there , to which mill the inhabitants of the western part of Hevingham came for the time aforesaid § continually, out of Hevingham lane into the short leading lane into Parker's now Charles Bustinge's Pightle & so into & through the Whites and so into the camping land, in which† where {sic) she lived till she was 22 yeares old & passin' frequently that way hath seen passengers going & coming on horseback with theire corne & meale to & from her fathers mill that once was, & hath frequently seen M.ter Otes his Cart carrying when they had occasion to carry & bringing theire firing fuel, as wood, broome, furse, brakes, through that way. § Viz: from the feast of All Saints to the Feast of the Purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary. † She lived with her mother in her first husband Dowsinge's house where Rich: Otes now liveth. The parish register of Marsham, Norfolk from 1538 to 1836 |
MARSHAM & AYLSHAM |
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Edward Melton outside Bolwick Mill House c.1910
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c.1964
just prior to demolition
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William Stackwood snr and his family moved from Horsham St Faith c.1876 where he had been running Horsham St Faith's smockmill. By 1891 William Stackwood snr had moved to Dilham watermill, while his son William Stackwood jnr remained at Bolwick mill for a time before moving on. |
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Whenever the mill started, it emptied the pond fairly
fast and upset Mrs. Buxton. |
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The
mill dam lake c.1970
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I think we were lucky at Bolwick to carry on life as
it always had been until old Mrs Buxton - my Grandmother - died in 1931.
The lake had silted up owing to the closure of the Water Mill, which was
run by Mr. Melton, the father of Bob Melton, who moved to the Mill House
near Marsham Hall. The Bolwick Mill had, I believe, the largest waterwheel
in Norfolk and it was a joy to watch it working. The whole building used
to shake as the water rushed through and the wheel turned in its rather
stately way. |
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Postcard posted 10th May 1909
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Purchase
order dated 17th July 1907
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It would appear that Thomas Shreeve (1833 -1909) went on to run the much larger Buxton_Mill and was there by at least 1890. Thomas' nephew Charles Robert Shreeve (1854-1932) took over at Bolwick and Marsham_postmill and was possibly still there when his farming business became insolvent in 1897. |
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In its final
days, the mill was run by three generations of the Melton family. Originally
by Edward Melton followed by his son Robert Thomas Melton and then his
son Aubrey Melton whose son Robert still farms in Marsham today (2002). |
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O. S. Map 1885 |
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O. S. Map 1905 |
| My father was William Case and through ill health he sold his farm in Oxnead and became farm manager for Mr Wathen and Mr Birkbeck at Bolwick. At that time the estate was owned by Mark Wathen and his wife Rosemary with their three/four children Roderick, Primula, Erica and ? another boy I think. My mother remained in correspondence and visited them whilst they were first in Talisker and then returned to the Toll Cottage at Bolwick. My father managed the Bolwick estate from about 1961 until his death in 1969 and we lived in the farmhouse on the estate. He was responsible for the flock of black sheep that flourished there and whose off spring became the founder stock of the, now famous, Black Sheep Co. in Ingworth. However mainly the farm ran a dairy herd and grew the normal arable crops for the time. I remember playing squash in what we thought of as the mill and boating on the lake together with a small dammed pond on the overflow side where we had great fun. |
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Mill site 1st May 2005 |
Wheelpit brickwork 1st May 2005 |
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Mill renovation date plaque 1st May 2005 |
Wheelrace inlet brickwork 1st May 2005 |
| I was a Marsham lad born in the early 60's and have memories of fishing in the lake at Bolwick Hall. Me and a friend 'Neal Emms' were invited to fish the lake (pond as Mark Wathen called it). Probably to keep us off the streets, but I will always remember Mark Wathen saying, "I'll Give you a Bob a Knob if you catch out the Roach and Rudd and throw Back the Trout." Being paid to Fish !!!! What more could a ten year old want? Needless to say we fished the lake (pond) many times and also enjoyed meeting with Mark Wathen's Mother, his son Roderick and Grandchildren too, I recall many memories of the Pond and fishing it, the Sluice gate, the boat house the Badminton court and many other aspects of such a wonderful time spent at the Hall. especially having seen the information you have posted It saddens me though I have no pictures, only memories. |
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O.S. Map 2005 Image reproduced under licence from Ordnance Survey |
1849: George Shreeve (journeyman miller at a Marsham mill) married Matilda Bartram
1859: George Shreeve died aged 33 - wife Matilda then co-habited with brother Thomas Shreeve |
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1638: Oliver Smith, miller & wheelwright at Balwick Mill
White's 1883: Charles Robert Shreeve, miller & farmer - also at Marsham
postmill
1897: Farming business of
Charles Robert Shreeve became insolvent
Kelly's 1933: Robert Thomas Melton, miller, corn, flour & pollard merchant, & fruit grower, Mill house
1957: Mill lying derelict, without tiles and with rotting roof and floor timbers |
If you have any memories, anecdotes or photos please let us know and we may be able to use them to update the site. By all means telephone 07836 675369 or
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| Nat Grid Ref TG2010 2439 | Copyright © Jonathan Neville 2003 |