which finished work about 1923, stood for many years in dereliction, slowly being internally raped by vandals and birds alike. I remember glimpsing the mill from the Ockendon road in the late sixties in the family car en route to relatives, but regretted ever since not seeing the mill close up. The mill finally collapsed on 2nd November 1977. Fortunately some of the mill machinery was salvaged by Vincent Pargeter and I believe is in storage waiting for a possible rebuild elsewhere. If, when and where remains to be seen. The site however has been cleared but can be approached by a footpath that runs eastward from the Royal Oak pub by the village green. Apparently the moat is still there.
It’s a pity that this mill disappeared. Who knows, if it was still there some of us may have been involved in its upkeep. Working on a derelict could have been great fun.
Aveley mill (below) has plenty of clues of its existence. This post mill, which survived until about 1916, stood at the north end of Mill Lane very close to the existing mill house. A level lawn marks the site. Nearby is Aveley football club, where the team are aptly named ‘The Millers’.
So where was the other mill in Upminster? It did not stand that close to the village of Upminster. It was known as Upminster Common mill and stood in Shepherds Hill Road. The exact site of this 17th century post mill is directly opposite the drive to Pages farm on the south side of Shepherds Hill Road near the existing house named ‘Mill Field’. It was there until the 1880’s. I accompanied Bob last summer and had a look at the site to try to establish exactly where. The site is not well defined but we presumed it stood in the garden of the house. The land around is fairly high so the contours would certainly been a help for the winding of the mill. The drawing of this mill below shows a distinct fan on the rear ladder.
Lost local Windmills (part 1)
Most people are probably aware that our mill in Upminster was not the only one to be part of the landscape over the last 200 years or so, indeed there were quite a few that stood quite locally. Does everybody know that another mill once stood in Upminster?
Locating old mill sites can be just as fascinating as looking at the real thing, providing of course you know where to look for them. Sometimes there are clues that help, such as road names, (eg Mill lane) or house names (eg mill cottage) or simply looking at the contours of the land. But majority of the time the clues are on old maps where mill symbols appear and then disappear when new maps are published. Some are simply old deeds that have been found with no other references. No visible evidence of our lost mills remains, but in some cases the clues are there.
So where were these mills? As far as it is known Ockendon had two, Aveley one,Upminster two, Hornchurch three and Romford five. There is no known evidence of any mills in Rainham or Dagnam Park (now Harold Hill).
Of the Ockendon mills, one was in North Ockendon and the other South Ockendon.
North Ockendon had an early 17th century mill that stood near the junction of Fen lane and Ockendon Road opposite the Old White Horse pub. It was a post mill but there are no clues at the site of its existence.
South Ockendon mill (below) however is another story. This smock mill built c1820 was extensively photographed and probably remembered by some mainly because of its late survival. The mill did not look too dissimilar to our mill in Upminster, but besides its own character, which all mills possess, it was unique. First it had five floors but, unusually, had a basement as well. Even more interesting is the fact that it also had a waterwheel attached which was turned by the water fed from the moat beside which the mill stood. The mill was owned by Hall Farm which still stands today. However the mill,
Upminster common mill would have been easily visible, working hard during the mid 1800's from our mill, plus another one in nearby Hornchurch, but where was this one?
In future parts of ‘Lost Local Windmills’ to be published in the next newsletter, that mill and all the other Hornchurch mills plus all the Romford mill sites will be looked at. Again in some cases the clues are there. - Trevor Watts