Isle of Wight Photo
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Calbourne Water Mill (Wheat & Malt Mill)
& Heritage Centre
First mentioned in the Domesday Book 1086
At the time of the Norman Conquest the Manor of Calbourne & the mill was given to William Fitz Stur
Calbourne was a relatively small Manor, so In early documents it always appears as part
of the larger Manor of Gatcombe
In 1299, Matilda of Gatcombe gave the whole Manor to her son, William Le Estur when he married
The mill remained in the same family till the middle of the 16th century when it was sold to the Erlisman family
The rest of the Manor & Estate was purchased by Sir Robert Dillington in 1636
In 1697 the mill was sold to Sir John Dillington for £60.00
1697 mill sold to William Crannidge
1724 William died leaving the mill to his son also named William Crannidge
1753 William Crannidge died leaving it to his son, another William Crannidge (Confusing, isn't it?)
He sold it to Thomas Hollis
1763 Thomas Hollis died and the mill became the property of his son, David
1781 David Hollis left the mill to his brother James, who conveyed it to his Nephew
William Edwards, subject to an annual rent, was left to Dinah Hollis, Widow
1802 Dinah conveyed the rent charge to William Edwards
1806 William Edwards left the mill to his wife Rebecca, and at her death the mill went to son James
1814 James Edwards sells the mill to Thomas Way
1840 Thomas Way died and leaves the mill to his son William
1959 William Way dies and the trustees sell to J. A. Long a schoolmaster
1878 J. A. Long sells the mill to George Weeks of Brixton, London
The mill still remains in the Weeks family to this day
The mill gets its water supply from a natural spring (Bourne) that rises in Westover Park,
and flows through Winkle Street
At one time the same stream supplied water to four other mills, one above Calbourne producing cloth, and three below. One paper, and two more corn mills
In the late 1894 the mill was converted to the, then, newfangled roller type of milling
This method, still used today by the large commercial mills, produces flour of a finer quality
At this time the mill was converted to run on steam power, or could still use the water wheel
when enough water was available
In 1920 the steam engine was replaced by a gas turbine engine, and was still in use when the
mill closed for commercial use in 1955
Thus there has been a working mill on this site for over 869 years
(That's longer than some countries have been in existence)