There were two watermills at Hellesdon in Saxon times, in the reign of Edward the Confessor, 1042-1066 and some of the villagers must have been employed in them either for themselves or for the lord. Throughout the medieval period mills continued to operate on the river at Hellesdon. In 1228, Reginald, the Abbot of St. Benets at Holm, had the "New Mill" and the use of the mill pool and island. The last known reference to the mills in operation appeared in a letter, dated October 21st, 1460, from Margaret Paston to her husband John - "Item your myllys in Heylysdon be late (let) for xij marke and the myller to fynde the reparacion."

By the middle of the 16th century only the mill dam remained. A Charter of Philip and Mary, dated July 2nd 1566, stated that the county and city boundary led from Hellesdon bridge to the old mill dam of the late watermill of "Heilesdon". It is possible that the mills ceased to operate as a result of the feud between the Paston family and the Duke of Suffolk, which lasted for several years. Estate documents show that these early mills were corn fulling mills. This meant that apart from grinding corn they; were used to carry out the fulling process necessary in the manufacture of woollen goods. Cloth straight from the loom was washed and cleansed of dirt and grease. This process thickened the fibres and induced them to felt. Many town weavers sent their cloths to country mills to escape both gild and borough control.

Gostlin's Mill
Hellesdon was without a watermill for about two hundred years. Then in 1683, William Gostlin of Woolverstone Park, Suffolk, leased an estate in Hellesdon from the lord of the manor, the Bishop of Norwich. Gostlin sought permission from the Bishop to build a mill at Hellesdon. At first the Bishop was reluctant to give permission because he thought that a mill at Hellesdon would hinder the Norwich mills. However, Augustine Lowe, Gostlin's bailiff at Hellesdon, informed that old papers existed relating to mills that had formerly stood on the river at Hellesdon. The Bishop then gave permission for a watermill to be built. Eventually Gostlin appointed a man to build the mill for him. It was decided to build it with timber and tarras. Tarras was a mortar or cement which was used to cover or lay with plaster. According to Lowe, tarras was very hard-wearing and the more they used the less timber would be necessary. It was estimated that it would take forty or more bushels of tarras to build the mill at a cost of four shillings a bushel and two shillings and sixpence for its carriage.

Some timber was cut in Hellesdon to build the mill, the remainder was purchased elsewhere. In May 1683, Lowe bought twenty jambs of timber at a cost one pound each. The mill took nearly a year to build and began operating in June 1684. It was built over the river on the site once occupied by the ancient mills. The mill and mill house were built under the same roof, and the foundations consisted of wooden frames which were situated below the water level. In 1719 when a millwright was employed by Charles Gostlin to carry out renovations on the mill, these frames were in such a bad state of repair, that all the timber which had been felled locally to complete the renovations had to be used to support the biggest frame. Additional timber had to be purchased to complete the work. At this time a new mill house was built apart from the mill itself at the cost of £140. At first the mill ground corn and did some fulling work, but later it produced oil.

Fire at the Mill
Early on Sunday morning, April 28th 1805, a fire broke out at the mill. It was first discovered about one o'clock and in one and a half hours the mill was destroyed except for a small part of the west end which was under repair. This part contained a quantity of oil and the flames were prevented from reaching it by cutting away the timbers. The mill, which was occupied by William Parkinson, sustained damage estimated at three to four thousand pounds of which only twelve hundred pounds was insured with the Norwich fire Office. The mill was eventually rebuilt for all its different branches of business.

In January 1848 William Wells, a miller, purchased the mill at Hellesdon from the Rev. Henry Berners of Woolverstone Park. By June 1851, Wells had reconstructed and refitted the mill and mill house. In addition he had erected dwelling houses, cottages, warehouses, stables, drying kilns, blacksmith's and carpenter's shops, offices and other buildings for the purpose of his business as miller. Hellesdon mill was now one of the most impressive mills in Norfolk. It was built on a timber frame let into brick foundations. The frame was covered externally with weather-boarding, and the roof had slate tiles. The mill was four storeys high and set in the south side were 66 windows. There were four waterways beneath it.

Pulled Down
The mill at Hellesdon was pulled down in 1920. The reason for this was shown by the following statement made at the meeting of Norwich City Council on May 18th on that year. "A commencement has been made in taking down Hellesdon Mill which consists chiefly of thoroughly good timber which will be used for housing at Angel Estate." Today all that remains of the mill at Hellesdon are the brick foundations with the four waterways and a small part of the eastern end of the mill. By the 1950's this building had had much of its weather boarding replaced by corrugated asbestos and was in a general state of disrepair. However, in recent years it has been thoroughly renovated and is now used as a dwelling house. At the south eastern end of the mill pool a large mill-stone, about six feet in diameter with a hole approximately a foot square through the centre, protrudes from the mud, a relic of former days. The malthouse and granary building exist, but are no longer used for the purposes for which they were built. A very different scene to that which was familiar to Hellesdon people at the turn of the century.

Hellesdon Mill was run by Joseph Ames, he later went into partnership with his son Daniel and his son-in-law William Parkinson. The first mention we have of Joseph Ames as being of Hellesdon Mills was in 1753 when the Church Inventory for Hellesdon included: "a black herse cloth for burials the gift of Mr Joseph Ames of Hellesdon Mills". Joseph Ames was around in Hellesdon before that and a Joseph Ames was mentioned in the Hellesdon tax records as being the collector in 1716 when he would have been five so it was probably his father.

He was obviously a successful businessman as when he died the Norwich Mercury on 31 January 1784 page 2 stated: "Last Saturday... same day died Mr Joseph Ames a considerable miller and flour merchant at Hellesdon near this city".

In directories he was listed as trading from the Kings Head in Norwich on Market days.

Listed in The British book trades 1775-1787 an index to insurance policies: Ames, Joseph,1779 policy to the value of £ 400, Hellesdon near Norwich, with an unnamed partner who was probably William Parkinson.

According to David Stoker's web site on Papermaking he was carrying out that activity at his mill in Hellesdon and the one in Oxnead which he ran with his son Daniel and son-in-law William Parkinson, certainly in his will he mentions having property at Brampton near Oxnead.

Stoker mentions that the partnership between Daniel Ames and William Parkinson ended in 1804, Daniel's sons Daniel and Edward went into the same business at Stoke Holy Cross but they were not successful, Daniel went bankrupt and Edward drifted in and out of the business.

The Parkinsons were non conformists and baptisms took place in Octagon Chapel in Norwich, Joseph Ames was C of E but his son Daniel appears to have been a Methodist, there is a suggestion that Edward was a Quaker (Norfolk Records Society book on the Ames Letters) but apart from being buried in the Guildencroft Burial Ground we have no evidence of this. William Parkinson made a bequest to Edward (of £200) and revoked it with a codicil written the same day!

Edward Ames was in partnership with his brother Daniel Ames working the mill at Stoke Holy Cross in the Mustard trade, he sold the lease of Stoke Mills to Jeremiah Colman in 1814 and an announcement appeared in the press stating that Jeremiah Colman had taken the Stock and Trade and intended continuing the manufacturing of mustard.

The mills at Stoke Holy Cross had certainly been producing paper by around 1767. According to the book about the Colmans Edward Ames made flour at Stoke Mills but the loss of a child by drowning in the river Tass which runs through Stoke upset him so much that he closed the mill. After a time he again opened it, this time for the manufacture of paper but a visit of inspection by the revenue officer, paper being taxed in those days, so annoyed Mr Ames that he closed the mill again.

His brother-in-law Mr John Wright persuaded Mr Edward Ames to reopen the mill by finding him a man who knew how to make mustard and agents to sell it. Apparently Mr Edward Ames didn't take it seriously and treated the matter as a joke, however mustard was made at Stoke mills. At the time of the takeover by Colman he was apparently dealing with flour, mustard and paper.

The Ames and Colman families were believed to have been well known to each other. Edward Ames had a daughter called Sarah who was believed to have been engaged to Jeremiah Colman but she died before the marriage. The family remained in contact with the Colmans even after they had moved to Great Yarmouth.
Dr. Quentin Fontana

Dr. Alfred Shorter notes that Joseph Ames and Sons of Hellesdon (and also of the Oxnead paper-mill) took an apprentice named Richard Gibson in 1778. Joseph and Daniel Ames and William Parkinson, millers, paper and oil makers, cutters of wood and flock, and fullers, insured the water wheels in the mill in 1779. He also notes that Joseph Ames died in 1784 and the remaining partnership finished in 1804. After this date there appears to have been a long gap before the mill was once again used for the manufacture of paper. In the mid 1850s and 1860s Norfolk directories show that paper was once again made at the mill by the firm of
W. Delane & Co. who were also connected with the mill at Taverham.
David Stoker

Eastern Daily Press 26th May 1999
Residents living close to an old city landmark have mounted a campaign against a plan to redevelop it.
The scheme to turn Hellesdon Mill into 11 flats will bring traffic which will ruin a safe haven for their children, they claim.
And they are concerned about sewage disposal and the destruction of the historic character of the area.
Campaigner Tony Godin said: 'It's on a single track road with no pavement. Children use it to get to Hellesdon High and in summer you get a lot of picnickers down there. Both exits are blind corners.'
The plan for the mill, which stands on the River Wensum at Lower Hellesdon, will see the disused mill granary and malthouse turned into flats and maisonettes.