Author: Eric Foster
In 2009 my wife purchased Maiden Newton Mill in Dorset, which was in a derelict state. All water channels were silted up and the millpond was non-existent. The sluice gates were unworkable and the waterwheel installed in 1840 was in a bad state of repair. Unfortunately all of the milling machinery had been removed.
Since that time the water courses have been excavated with the removal of over 1000 tonnes of silt and debris, the weir has been rebuilt together with all the retaining walls for the millpond. The waterwheel has been completely refurbished, as have the sluice gates, and everything is now in a working condition. All the work was done under the direction of the Environment Agency, who donated a replacement mechanism for the three-blade bypass sluice gate. Pictures were taken of all the stages of restoration and these can be made available.
Our big problem at the moment is that now that all the work is done a neighbour is claiming fishing rights on the mill waters in addition to the leat that passes the end of his garden. He is upstream of the Mill and insists that his fishing rights include the control of the sluice gates. This appears to be because he wants to preserve a high water level for appearances sake at the end of his garden rather than any real interest in fishing. The latest development is that my wife has been served an interim injunction to prevent her operating the gates except in a flood emergency. His argument is that the operation of the Mill is servient to his fishing rights. We can’t believe this for one moment as this means that we cannot run the waterwheel and the value of the property as a mill is severely compromised. We are taking legal advice but solicitors and even barristers seem to have little understanding of basic water law, or interpretation of fishing rights. Any advice, or information from mill owners that have had problems of this nature would be very welcome.
My wife Lillie and I have been married for just over two years so I have not been involved with this problem until 2011. I am 75 and she is 70. Maiden Newton Mill is a fantastic place and part of the residential accommodation is now restored as a holiday let (Google Maiden Newton Mill). We would like to get a small grinding facility going, driven by the wheel of course, and perhaps have an on-site bakery, but the forgoing problem is blighting the whole operation.