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Headley Mill, circa 1930
Downstream from Standford Corn Mill is Headley Mill, which is also a corn mill and is still in commercial operation today.
Here the mill wheel is enclosed-it is behind the right-hand lower small window. Apparently this was not always so, there having once been a gap in which the wheel was exposed between two buildings-the mill house on the right, and the mill on the left. |
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Headley Mill viewed from across the mill pond, c.1910
Headley Mill, owned by the Ellis family since 1914, is the last water mill working commercially in Hampshire. The mill wheel is breast-shot from a head of seven and a half feet and drives four pairs of old-style stones, each nearly 4ft in diameter and 10ins thick, producing flour and animal feeds.
It is assumed that there has been a mill here since Saxon times. |
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Headley Mill and mill pond, about 1910 |
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| Mr Laverty, when he was Rector of Headley, said that it was mentioned in the Domesday Book-other scholars have disputed this.
The clear view of the mill shown here is no longer to be seen, due to the growth of trees along the border of the road. Note how narrow the mill pond is-it was later widened considerably. |
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Headley Mill Farm, 1910 |
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Headley Mill Farm, 1910-now Wey House
This and the previous picture are taken from much the same spot, and show the Liphook road as it comes from the mill, passes Headley Mill Farm and bends towards us on the way to Standford.
Headley Mill Farm was at one time owned by Sir Archibald Macdonald, with Walter Lickfold working as tenant farmer. |
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| It was bought in 1915 by James Branson.
The current owner, who is an architect, tells us that the building is based on an original 13th century open hall structure to which many additions and alterations have been made. |
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Haymaking at Headley Mill, c.1890s
The mill pond now covers the field we see here. The date of the photograph is thought to be in the 1890s. A small drainage ditch can be seen above, crossing the meadow to a sluice near the mill.
The photograph is taken from a position close to a second drain. |
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Haymaking at Headley Mill, about 1890s |
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Headley Mill pond drained |
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Headley Mill pond drained
In this recent photograph, looking from the mill, we see the bed of the larger mill pond as it is today when given a 'draining'. It clearly shows the line of the ditches in the mud. |
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The ford at Headley Mill |
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The ford at Headley Mill
As mentioned earlier, there has been talk of bridging this ford since 1899, but a hundred years later traffic is still splashing its way through between Headley and Bordon. |
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In this picture, at the rear of the mill, we are looking away from Bordon across the Wey towards the junction with Liphook Road. This has been the site of many accidents in the past, and the authorities have now decreed that traffic may enter the ford only from the Headley direction, the return from Bordon being over Lindford or Standford bridges. |
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Introduction
Headley Mill
