c.1900
Itteringham Mill River Bure |
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c.1900 |
N.B. The village of Itteringham has its own website www.itteringham.com |
There has been a watermill in Itteringham since before the Domesday survey in the 11th Century and two mills were also recorded in the now amalgamated parish of Mannington. Ironically many mills tended to burn approximately every 200 years (mainly due to friction and large amounts of flour dust) and the present main structure was built in 1783. During renovation work in 1938, the builders discovered the inscription R.W. 1783 scratched in the plaster at the back of the water wheel and this was left intact.It was found again in April 2009 during the extensive alterations of that year. Itteringham watermill is the fourth mill down from the source of the Bure. |
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Estate map 1722 before the bypass to the north was cut |
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October 1972 |
4th September 2004 |
As with many watermills, the ancient course of the river was altered in order to provide a better head of water for the mill. This probably took place in the 1700s and involved the digging of a wide new cut some 250 yards long with a high bank on the northern side where the river was to be several feet higher than the surrounding terrain. A bypass was also cut in to go around the north side of the mill in order to control the water in times of flood. Once the cut had been finished the old course would have been dammed allowing the river to back up and deepen to form a reservoir - the mill dam. It is probable that this work was undertaken during the tenure of William Colls. |
Colls Family
The Colls family were Quakers and their Pedigree is entitled: Colls of Burgh by Aylsham, Horstead & North Walsham. |
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On 10th December 1783, William Colls leased the mill from the Hon. Horatio Walpole for 50 years at a rent of £40.00 per annum
- new mill lately erected and built by William Colls on the site of the old mill that was lately standing on the premises. William Colls had already rebuilt the mill to power two pairs of stones. One pair were German Cullins for milling wheat to flour and the other pair consisted of a Derby Peak runnerstone over a French burr bedstone for milling rye. French burrstones were expensive and were almost exclusively used for flour milling, thus the above arrangement might have come about if the mill had been converted to rye milling by buying a cheap peak runnerstone. By 1831 an inventory showed that the wheel was now powering three pairs of stones via a 9 foot diameter spur wheel with a 7 foot diameter crown wheel set above it. |
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Ayton & Bell marriages |
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1913 |
December 2001 |
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Between 21st June and 11th August 1838, the Mill machinery was renovated by millwright James Winterborn of Aylsham for the Earl of Orford. The total cost was £50 11s 7½d. Various individuals from the village also took part in the renovation work including Nathaniel Brett, carpenter and wheelwright; Henry Hall, blacksmith, Edward and Samuel Slipper who worked with Henry Hall to remove some of the old machinery and Thomas Ward, bricklayer, who worked on the watercourses under the mill as well as repairing the various buildings. |
Mathew Arthur Slipper was known to be the illegitimate son of Charlott Tipple and the 4th Earl of Orford (1813-1994). He was born 18 June 1839 at Itteringham and was apprenticed as a miller at the mill before moving to work at Upper_Sheringham_postmill where he was listed as journeyman miller in the 1841 census. Later still he became the publican of the Lobster Inn at Sheringham. In 1861, he married Susan Cooper, who was born on 22nd December 1843 in Sheringham and they went on to have 10 children. Mathew Arthur Slipper died on 4th November 1919. |
Matthew Slipper was the illigitimate son of the 4th Earl of Orford. His mother Charlotte was a seamstress at Mannington Hall. She later married a Tipple and produced another child by him. I have a detailed family history which tells me that Matthew was still at the Lobster Inn, Sheringham, in 1902. He married Susan Cooper of Upper Sheringham. They had 10 children 8 of which survived. There are 2 graves in the churchyard at Upper Sheringham. He was much involved in the local leadership, now council. He handled the Poor Law money in Lower Sheringham. One of his sons was the Village Constable, another had a sweet shop and a third, my grandfather, was a grocer and two daughters were teachers at the Upper Sheringham School. He died in 1919 Much of this information was gleaned from books written by Peter Cox, a local councillor and a family history produced by a relative. I have yet to discover why he was in Nottinghamshire when he died (perhaps one of his children lived there?) He is buried in West Bridgeford. |
The 1851 census showed that while the mill itself was being run by Frederick Copeman, the mill grounds were being run as a farm by William Hardmeat and his wife and they were living in the Mill House. William was aged 30 and had been born in Cromer and his wife Amelia, also aged 30 had been born in Metton. They were sharing part of the Mill House with one of Frederick Copeman's employees, Samuel Deane, aged 29 from Langmere, who was a journeyman miller. |
St. Ann's Iron Works, King Street, Norwich, 23 Apr. 1864. F. S. Watson, Esq, Sir, Having duly examined the Water Wheel and Shaft at Itteringham Mill I find it in a most delapidated condition and not in a fit state to be repaired. I therefore beg to lay before you an estimate. To take out the old Wheel and Shaft and fix in new ones. The wheel to be 16 feet diameter and 8 feet Wide, with three Cast Iron rings well fitted and bolted together, with Cast Iron Starts, Best Memel timber floats and back boards and all necessary bolts and nuts. One new Cast Iron Shaft to weigh about 35cwt., with neck carriages and wall plate with turned journals and Key and planed for hanging Wheel on Shaft, also two Gun Metal Neck Brasses, Cast and bored to fit the Same. Two Cast Iron Bosses and four Angles for hanging pit wheel on New Shaft, the above work, which shall be made of the best materials and sound workmanship for the sum of two hundred and seven pounds, ten shillings. I have the honor to be, Sir, Your Obt. Servt, Thos. Smithdale. £207.10. -. Oak starts, 190. 10. -. |
Frederick Copeman lived in the mill house, leasing Itteringham watermill from the Walpole Estate while owning Aylsham steam mill in Dunkirk. |
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O.S. Map 1890 Image produced from the www.old-maps.co.uk service with permission of Landmark Information Group Ltd. and Ordnance Survey |
James_Brown, who was running the mill in 1864 was also a farmer and maltster. At one point in his career, he was probably also a tanner and lived at Tanyard Farm (later to become Bintry Farm). In 1828 he married Pleasance Copeman who was the daughter of Robert Copeman and sister of Frederick Copeman. One of James Brown's sons was Frank Brown, who by 1871, was running Roughton_Mill_Hill_towermill. |
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George Harvey Witham 1910 |
Walter Marcom was there in those days. We used to see him out walking and he had a big boot on one foot and the sole was several inches thick. Joan (Nellie) Hall née Wilch - 20th November 2007 |
Sidney Wilch was the landlord of the Walpole Arms at the top of the mill drive. My Dad also worked at and ran the mill and he had a fish round. He would call the horse from the orchard but he wouldn't come so he would yell "Edith!" Mother would come and she would call "Jack!" and he'd come trotting over and Dad would put the harness on him. He would drive to the train station at Aylsham to get the fish. Joan (Nellie) Hall née Wilch - 20th November 2007 |
Gladys Broughton who lived in the village often used to go down to the mill at the age of 14 in 1920 and recalled that the whole establishment was run as a farm as well as a mill. Chickens would often be lost as they had a habit of roosting on the wheel and didn't always get off before it was started up. Gladys Broughton |
Itteringham Mill probably stopped working in the late 1920s and was allowed to become derelict; Kelly's directory lists it as still working in 1929. In May 1936, owner Lord Walpole contemplated bringing it back into use but subsequently decided to convert it into a dwelling. Two alternative sets of plans were drawn up by the Cromer builder Girling & Smith and work started on the favoured version on 13th July 1938. The total cost of the whole project was approximately £2,500.00 and the project was overseen and recorded by Ernest Edward Smith himself, who was 71 in that year. Some of the photographs he took are on a separate Itteringham_Mill_Conversion page. Girling & Smith later also converted Antingham_Upper_Bone_Mill to residential use c.1946. |
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One of the grinding tuns on the 1st floor - the stone floor. The stone marked "A" was used as the front door step |
The RAF were the first to live in the mill after conversion and were responsible for converting the cart track to the mill into a proper metalled drive. The officers lived in the mill and all their auxiliary staff lived in the mill cottage. King George Vl and the Queen Mother visited the pilots during their stay and Gladys Broughton also recalled seeing the Duke of Kent driving down Sovereigns Hill to the village in a maroon car. |
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View from the meadow near the road looking east on 7th July 1938 |
Derek Neville and dogs in the late 1960s |
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Views of the mill pond on 7th July 1938 |
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During the war the Mill was used as an officers' mess for staff based at RAF Matlaske. The pilots lived in the mill itself while the cooks and other staff lived in the cottage. Some brave individuals would dive into the mill pond from the flat roof section between the two dormers. On other occasions swans were fed with bread soaked in whiskey. When the drunken birds swam back upriver, they were unable to negotiate the first bend and would swim straight into the bank. On 15th June 1974 several airmen returned to the Mill for a reunion and presented Derek and Mary Neville with a framed map of old Norfolk that they had all signed: |
| B. Ashwell 222 Squadron 1941 - Spitfire Mk IIa & IIb J. H.Burgess 222 Squadron May 1941 - Spitfire Mk IIa & IIb Jack Cornwell Ex F/O Adjt. 601 Squadron - Hurricane Mk IIb & Bell Airacobra Mk I W. Duthaler H.Q. 1940 - 1942 John Fincham 19 Squadron 1941 - Spitfire Mk IIa R. M. D. Hall 222 Squadron, May 1941 - Spitfire Mk IIa & IIb N.B. Some of the handwriting was not easy to decipher although the above is believed to be fairly accurate. |
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F/Lt Hogan (Adj) (fishing) & F/O Barnet - 1942 |
Sgt Hoots (Canadian) with fishing rod! and Scottie Torrence - 1942 |
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F/Lt Hogan - 1942 |
Left to right: F/Lt 'Uppie', F/Lt 'Bartie' Bartlett, Sgt Eddie, Sgt Hoots, P/O 'Sammy' Samede - 1942 |
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Dr. & Mrs. Gerald 'Gerry' Clayton 1942 |
My father, the M.O., had to check all the new pilot recruits. He checked the 1st recruit for colour blindness using the charts with coloured dots. The recruit said 5. My father said he was colour blind and rejected him. The 2nd recruit said the same! So he was rejected. Likewise the 3rd. But the 3rd chap said he was definitely not, and for my father to check the key in the back. Yes, it was my father who was colour blind and he was 28 by then! Gerry Clayton - 7th January 2010 |
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Ex RAF dinghy c.1959 |
Raft August 1967 |
When Sir David Cunningham moved in shortly after the war, the gardens were overrun by moles, which were removed by attaching a hose to a car exhaust pipe and burying the other end in a mole hole. |
Sir David Cunningham employed three men, Donny Baxter, Willy Thompson and a Mr Bond, he had an operation and later took cyanide and was found alongside the river with his feet in it, very sad and Brian Hoolhouse was one of the people that went out to find him. Ivan Thompson - 19th October 2005 |
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The bridge where the bypass joins the millpool in 1956 |
Mid 1960s |
During the 1960s the footbridge bridge was swept away by floods and a simpler bridge was later rebuilt using telegraph poles and wood slabs. The above right hand photo shows Jim Bonham from Hawaii, Jonathan Neville, Derek Neville, Martin Ellis and dog Sammy. |
In the spring of 1961 the river burst its northeastern bank some 100 yards above the mill and reverted to what was probably its original course. |
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Jonathan Neville on the river island May 1961 |
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Looking west from the Mill cottage early ''70s |
Mill cottage and garden when used for afternoon teas c.1965 |
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Edith Thaxter c.1968 |
Edith Thaxter and Rose Coles c.1970 |
Edith Thaxter was Gladys Broughton's sister and for many years they lived in the cottage next to the school. The oak bench in the background of the right hand photo above was shortly to be transported to Australia in commemoration of Blackburn's Island whose original name had been reinstated as a result of the book Blackburn's Isle written by Derek Neville tracing the voyages of David Blackburn. |
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Members of staff in 1967 |
Derek & Mary Neville c.1970 |
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Marks made by the wheel still remain 29th June 2003 |
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The wheelrace to the breast shot wheel June 2003 |
The renovated brick arch and new concrete ceiling of 1938 |
During conversion to residential use in 1938, a new fireplace alcove was built on the site of the wheel housing and a section of the cast iron pitwheel was incorporated into the brickwork above the hearth. A millstone was used as the centrepiece of the floor. In the 1990s a glass plate was inserted into the lounge floor over the site of the wheel and the river can be seen rushing through below. Another millstone was used a the front doorstep and a further two were incorporated into the back lawn. All the millstones were French burrstones, which meant the mill was grinding wheat for flour. |
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The fireplace alcove in the 1960s with a section of the pit wheel over the fire |
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Pitwheel section above the fireplace 31st October 2004 |
Pitwheel teeth showing wear from contact with the wallower |
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December 2001 |
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Looking west from the Mill cottage in the early 1970s |
29th June 2003 |
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The Saracen's Head 31st October 2004 |
At the foot of the main staircase is a carving of the Saracen's Head. It was carved by Fred Smith of the Smith family building firm, Girling & Smith Ltd. of Cromer, who converted the mill to residential use in 1938. The only local connection appears to be that of the Saracen's Head pub on Lord Walpole's nearby Wolterton Estate that originally owned the mill. |
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The north gable 29th June 2003 |
In the 1960s new oak sluice gates were installed by H. Newton & Sons of Cley. The wheel bypass sluice had not been raised for some 10 years and the mill pool, which used to be some 12 feet deep, had silted up to within a foot of the surface over most of the pool area. When the new gate was raised the whole millpool boiled as a vast amount of trapped methane gas was released. Within a few weeks the water was back to its former depth. |
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Bypass sluice derelict in the 1960s |
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Bypass in flood late '60s looking west |
Bypass 29th June 2003 |
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29th June 2003 |
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15th June 2006 |
27th July 2006 |
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Peter Downs beside the Hydroelectric generator 9th December 2006 |
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River Bure after flood warning between Corpusty and Brampton 15th June 2007 |
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RW 1788 to the north of the fireplace under 1st floor floorboards |
During renovation work in 1938, the builders discovered the inscription R.W. 1783 scratched in the plaster at the back of the water wheel and this was left intact. It was found again in April 2009 during the extensive alterations of that year. |
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11th July 2009 |
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O.S. Map 2005 Image reproduced under licence from Ordnance Survey |
Estate map 1722: Robert Colls
White's 1845: Frederick Copeman, corn miller, also Blickling Mill
Kelly's 1854: Frederick Copeman, miller & corn merchant
Kelly's 1879: Benjamin Cook |
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 01263 713658 or
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| Nat Grid Ref TG14933056 | Copyright © Jonathan Neville 2003 |