| A guest post by Gareth Bramley |
 |
| Aquatint engraving of Ventnor Mill c.1790, done from the shore, by an unknown artist. |
| Ventnor Mill was the oldest building in Ventnor on the Isle of Wight, which was, in about 1760, described as “a few lowly huts, a quaint modest little inn, and a water mill”. The mill, lying only a short distance from the shore, built on the top of the hillside overlooking Mill Cove, was rebuilt on several occasions – in particular after a serious fire in 1848. It was an important part of Ventnor until the mill went into decline, and was finally demolished in 1875 to make way for a row of Victorian villas. |
|
 |
| This detailed map from 1759, drawn up by Isaac Taylor, was the first to show the mill. |
| From ‘Undercliff of the Isle of Wight – Past & Present’(John L. Whitehead) (1911):The Ventnor Mill had probably been in existence some centuries, the water power conferring a considerable monetary value upon the premises. It is probably the mill referred to in the Feudal Aid, Edward III (1327), when ‘Geoffrey atte Mill’ is named in the assessment list of the ‘Villata de Wathe’. On the estate map of 1729 it is shown with five acres of ground attached, and in the occupation of Richard Street. The main source of the stream supplying the mill was in a one acre field named Mill Hill, detached from the rest of the holding. After passing through other property, the stream entered the mill mead and garden of two and a half acres, finally flowing on to Mill Bottom of one acre and thence to the shore, “where its sparkling waters tumbled into the sea by a succession of cascades that want nothing but wood to render them very beautiful.” At one period the only grocer’s and baker’s shop in the neighbourhood was found on the mill premises. |
|
 |
| Another aquatint by Charles Tomkins, dated 1795, was originally in black and white; and, as verified by the ship in the distance, is looking seaward. |
| One of the chief speculators in Ventnor was John Albert Hamborough (Hambrough, in the 1859 directory) of Middlesex. In 1838 he purchased Ventnor Mill and house, together with the outbuildings, millpond and land thereto adjoining measuring 2 acres 2 rods 30 perches; and also the mill cottage and garden near the shore measuring 16 perches; and also part of Collins measuring 3 acres 0 rods 33 perches; and also the freehold reversion to the school subject to the lease to the trustees thereof and a piece of land adjoining. Part of the above was sold subject to a lease to Mr. John Cole for 21 years from October 1834 and subject to a right of way to the beach. The purchase money was £2800. |
|
 |
| An engraving dated 3rd February 1810 produced for publisher Thomas Tegg. Looking north east towards St. Boniface Down, it shows the overshot mill wheel and cascade entering the mill pond from the down. |
| By 1848 the mill buildings had expanded to occupy the entire eastern side of Mill Street (now Pier Street) between Albert Street and what is now Alexandra Gardens. In addition to the mill, mill house and storage there was separate accommodation for the horse and carts and other animals, a coal house and piggery. The mill caught fire in March 1848 the Hampshire Telegraph reported that the mill and adjoining house, were burnt to the ground. |
|
 |
| This oil painting by Harriet Gouldsmith from 1826 titled ‘A Watermill at Ventnor’ shows the Mill standing at the head of the cascade stream. |
| It is clear from the ‘Abstract of the Title Deeds’ from 1848 that, after the fire, the mill was rebuilt. Hambrough sold the Ventnor Mill site, pond and stream to the tenant and miller Charles Banfield and architect Thomas Stanley in September that year. Hamborough placed a number of covenants on the purchase. One covenant was for Banfield and Stanley to rebuild the Mill on the existing foot print, incorporating the remains of the old foundations and walls. Banfield was also contracted to remove, by covenant, the out buildings, stable and piggery, on the ground which are now shops in Alexandra Parade. This area was cleared by 1849 and five cottages, an office, bake house, oven and shop and Banfield’s new house replaced the old outbuildings.On completion in 1853, the new mill was operational, and was let by Banfield to Francis Buckell for a high rent of £110p.a. |
|
 |
| The 1862-3 OS map on the left shows a very detailed layout of the mill area (1438), millpond (1440) and the Parsonage. The diagram on the right shows the mill buildings c.1848, and their position in relation to the villas on Alexandra Gardens in 1884 – the mill extending to where numbers 1 and 2 are; with Nos.3-8 being built where the millpond used to be. |
| Details of the new structure were revealed in an advertisement placed in the Times newspaper on 7th October 1857 when the mill owner, Charles Banfield, was announced as leaving the Island. ‘Ventnor Water Corn Mill’ was described as having two pairs of grindstones worked by an overshot wheel, five lofty floors capable of storing 1,000 quarters of grain, a convenient dwelling house with sea view, corn store, yard, stables, outbuildings and large garden. Charles Davis who was the baker at the bake house next to the mill from 1850, took over the mill itself in 1867, and was the last reported miller to work there.From 1868 to 1875 Henry May of Woodlynch, Bonchurch bought the whole mill site from Charles Banfield for over £2000. The Mill was still operational in 1870 when, in December, Davis’ 10 year old stepson, Thomas Henry Ball, fell and drowned in the grain. A verdict of accidental death was recorded. |
|
 |
| The photograph above (c.1860) is, to date, the only close image I have found showing the rebuilt mill building (circled). Taken from Longdown, Albert Street is on the extreme right. The tower of St. Augustine Villa can be seen behind the mill on the left. |
| The Mill went out of production and by 1875, it had been demolished. That year May bought the under lease, the final part of the site, which was held by Charles Banfield for £5, with a view to developing the area. However, the credit crash of 1873 started prices falling and in 1874 May asked for help from the Local Board and in 1875 gave up his title deeds in return for a cash loan, and then sold off part of the site. In 1878 he died leaving the development to his wife Anna Maria; and in 1882 the Chancery Court of the High Court ordered that the remainder of the bankrupt estate be broken up into individual building leases.These were purchased by local builders Drudge & Wheeler and 8 new semi-detached villas were designed by architect Theodore Ridley Saunders. They were completed and ready for occupation on July 7th 1884. |
| You can read a longer version of this history on our website. |
