Wighton watermill was sadly one of the early casualties in the demise of watermilling and was demolished in May 1866. Prior to this and by 1860 the mill's water power was being supplemented by a condensing steam engine.

Thomas Priest, who died and was then buried on 9th September 1793, had a daughter, Judith Ladle, born out of wedlock to Mary Ladle and she was baptised on 16th May 1784. Both Wighton watermill and windmill were taken over by Robert Beeston upon the death of Thomas Priest and Robert continued to take care of Judith Ladle, who was 9 years old at the death of her father. It was later mentioned in the will of Samuel Priest, miller at Newton_by_Castle_Acre_watermill, that one of his executors, Robert Beeston was keeping the mill at Wighton along with Judith Ladle.

Faden's map of 1797 also shows a New W. Mill to the southwest of the watermill.
This was Wighton_towermill that had been built a few years earlier.

Walter Thurtell was born on 15th June 1796, in Hopton, Suffolk (now Norfolk), as one of the children of John Thurtell and Anne Browne. Walter married Honor Clarke on 21st July 1819 at Great Yarmouth and they had ten children.
At the time of the 1851 census Walter and Honor were both 54 and at Walsingham, along with daughters Honor (30) and Clare (24). Walter was listed as a miller and farmer with 170 acres, employing five men and two boys.

Walter was a cousin of the Brownes of the Lowestoft porcelain factory (his mother was a Browne) and there were a number of millers in various parts of East Anglia called Chaston who were also their cousins of the Brownes. Robert Burtsal, miller at Ellingham watermill, was also connected to the Browne family by marriage, as was William Shearing who became miller at Ellingham_watermill when Robert Burtsal died on 7th November 1856.

Walter Thurtell went on to collect much information on the origin of the Thurtell name. Three of Walter's younger children later changed their surname to Turner, presumably to avoid embarrassing questions related to the scandal pertaining to Walter's first cousin, John Thurtell, who was hanged for a brutal murder in 1824. Although Walter and his wife had a total of 10 children, their only grandchildren were the family of their second son, Horace, who emigrated to South Africa. In fact, such was the notoriety of the name Thurtell in the 19th century that, although in 1823 Walter was one of 16 male Thurtell cousins, by the time of the 1901 census their only Thurtell descendant in England seems to have been one elderly unmarried lady.

Walter Thurtell left Wighton in the 1850s and moved to Newcastle where he became a flour factor. Whilst travelling from Newcastle to Yarmouth, William was suddenly taken ill and died on 1st November 1880 in Lynn Haven at the age of 84. He was subsequently buried at Highgate in London.

WIGHTON
Notice re:-
Water Mill, about to be pulled down
James EVERITT, farmer
Norfolk News - 7th October 1865

Notice re:-
Wighton Water Mill
Discontinued and Premises removed
Norfolk News - 26th May 1866

James Everitt, the mill's last owner was a farmer, maltster and merchant of some substance as he was able to employ a gardener cum groom.

Faden's map 1797: Watermill

1799: Robert Beeston, miller appointed executor to the will of Samuel Priest of Newton by Castle Acre mill

1797: Robert Beeston also Wighton windmill

Wighton poll book 1802: Robert Beeston

1805: Robert Beeston died

1819: Beeston Wright (probably grandson) & windmill

Pigot's 1830: Walter Thurtell (1830 - 1850)

White's 1836: Walter Thurtell

Pigot's 1839: Walter Thurtell

White's 1845: Walter Thurtell

1850: Walter Thurtell, maltster and merchant & windmill

1857: ? Coleman, miller

1860: Water power being supplemented by a condensing steam engine

1860: George Everitt miller & windmill

White's 1864: James Everitt & Co. corn millers, merchants & maltsters also at Wells (1853 - 1865)

May 1866: Mill demolished

2003: Only one low wall, some broken brickwork and part of the brick floor of the watercourse remain