Yaxham tower mill was built by William Critoph in 1860. At that time, uniquely he had one of each of the three main types of windmills on the same property. The six storey towermill had a ground diameter of 20 feet that narrowed by 2 feet per floor culminating with an ogee cap and a ball finial that was still a garden ornament in the 1980s. The tower contained 3 pairs of underdriven stones.

Reuben Tilney ran Yaxham smockmill in Paper Street from 1845 - 1853 and this was bought by William Critoph who moved the mill to his own property that he had bought, complete with a postmill in 1857. The towermilll was built using timber sawn on a bench within the smockmill. Reuben Tilney moved on to Mileham postmill and towermill and William Critoph was one of the executors to his will when he died in 1877.

The postmill had been built in 1810 by Michael Hardy on copyhold land he had bought from one Daniel Nicholson using a £300 mortgage he had obtained from Dereham farmer, James Nicholson. Michael Hardy put the postmill with two pairs of stones and land up for auction on Friday 5th September 1828. However, it appears that Michael Hardy finally sold the mill and premises to John Banyard in 1829 for £600 with a further £275 for the land.

The post mill was again put up for auction in May 1834 but may not have been sold. John Banyard died in 1842 and Mrs. Charlotte Sophia Astley, who had already taken over the mortgage, bought the property in 1847, only to die later that year. The postmill was left to Ellen, who was the wife of Revd. Frederick Brewster Thompson, although a dispute in ownership validity arose at this point. Eventually the mill was run by tenants Robert Springhall, 1834 - 1840 and then his son Robert Aldous Springhall 1845 - 1857, both of whom also worked Garveston_postmill. William Critoph purchased the mill and land at auction on Friday 18th September 1857 for £400.

William Critoph was also working Mattishall_Mill_Road_towermill in 1883 and he was a descendent of Robert Critoph of Gresham who in turn was probably related to the Critoph milling family of Sheringham and Upper Sheringham.

In February 1904, Thomas William Stebbing Parlett took over running the mill and installed a Tatershall Half Sack Midget Mill Roller Plant.

In its heyday the mill was providing flour to the adjacent bakery, which produced bread for sale at the shop on the same site. The site included workers' cottages, the bakery and the miller's house, now the Yaxham Mill pub and restaurant.

A replica smockmill was built near the railway line, possibly in the 1970s and for reasons unknown.

This view shows No.7, a Ruston & Hornsby 16hp 2-cylinder diesel loco (works no. 170369), built in 1934 and supplied new to Chesterfield Sewage Works.  This was also acquired in 1982 and is seen in July 1986 year running on the site of the present YLR.  Much has changed since then, the derelict replica windmill has been replaced by a 3-road engine shed and much track-laying and landscaping has taken place. 
Chris Fisher - Archivist of Yaxham Light Railway, March 2007

1860: Mill built by William Critoph (descendent of Robert Critoph of Gresham probably related to the Critoph milling family of Sheringham and Upper_Sheringham

April 1872: Mill struck by lighning in a 'tempest of unusual violent character'

c.1883: Auxiliary power via a stationary steam engine powered by a vertical boiler from a steamship

White's 1883: William Critoph, miller & corn merchant

1st February 1904: Towermill and postmill conveyed to Thomas William Stebbing Parlett for £780.

Prior to 1917: Postmill dismantled

1920: Steam engine sold to Dereham Gas Works and was replaced by a Crossley diesel and later an Armstrong diesel

1922: Towermill sails removed

1932: Walter Last bought the towermill from Thomas Parlett.

1937: Mill derelict but still with cap, windshaft, gallery and fan frame

1940: Mill machinery removed and dust floor concreted over for use as a store

1953: Walter Last died

1947 - 1956: Walter Last Ltd

1956: Mill sold to Basil Last

1990s: Mill sold to private buyer

October 1996: Outhouses renovated and mill house opened as pub

1999: Mill renovated

September 2003: Peter and Tracy Skipper, private residential use with accommodation in adjacent Mill pub

Copyright © Jonathan Neville 2004