Lowewood Museum
Remains of Broxbourne Mill

Broxbourne Mill

Created 21 June, 2008

Broxbourne MillIn our district the only mill mentioned in the Domesday Survey was that at Broxbourne, which was described as being worth eight shillings. This was doubtless the original one on the site where the remains of the present one now stands. The Mill was held by the Priory of the Knights of St. John of Jerusalem, until their lands were confiscated by Henry VIII at the time of the Reformation, when it was granted in 1544 on letters patent from the King to John Cocke of Broxbourne.

At a meeting of the River Lee Trustees held on June 28th, 1574, at the Bull Inn, Ware, the Trustees considered a dispute which had arisen between the barge owners on the River Lee and the occupier of Broxbourne Mill. The point of the dispute was the scouring of the Broxbourne Gully which would be harmful to the owner of Broxbourne Mill, who complained against it. The barge owners wanted the Gully scoured and complained that navigation was difficult, and that their barges ran aground in the river. It was finally decided that a (lock) should be constructed to solve the difficulty, the Miller to be responsible for its working. In 1644 we find a John Hartwell died possessed of two water mills called Broxbourne Mills, which passed to his cousin. In 1671 the vicar of the parish, John Layer, sued the occupier, Thomas Pryor, for his tithes. This had been fixed at one peck of best wheat meal weekly, which a former vicar had compounded for £4 a year. In 1891, the Mill was owned by Charles Webster. At his death, the business was left to his daughter, and a Mr Bewley acted as her manager and ran the Mill for about a year. It is believed that this was the last time that corn was ground there.

Broxbourne MillIn the early hours of October 1st, 1949 the Mill was destroyed by fire. The building was being used as a factory, and was occupied by Wood Cases Ltd., and the Perfect Concrete Mixer Company.

Fireman C. Gouldsmith of the Hoddesdon Brigade was injured about the hands, and detained in hospital, and Assistant Divisional Officer Cotton received an injury to the eye. Fire Brigades from Cheshunt, Ware and Hertford joined the Hoddesdon Brigade in fighting the blaze, which destroyed the factory and damaged other buildings. The alarm was given by railway staff about five in the morning. Tom Franklin filmed the fire for the Hoddesdon Newsreel.

The remains of the mill was restored in 1984 by the Lee Valley Regional Park Authority.

Last updated: 19 July, 2008