History Stories

Since the Romans occupied Britain some 60,000 watermills and 20,000 windmills have been built.

Some have lasted for centuries, and others were quickly washed away or blown over.

Water wheel at Churchill Forge Museum

The watermill at Hallow, near Worcester, is reputed to be on the site of the first Roman watermill built in Britain.

In the Worcester area there were a large number of watermills on the smaller rivers and streams, but none on the Severn, which was too rough and unpredictable for the building skills of the time.

There were windmills in and around the city of Worcester - the legacy is now in names like Windmill Hill at Stoulton, where there were two, and Windmill Lane in Kempsey, which had a superb stone structure.

The mill at Fladbury

Gheluvelt Park was built on Windmill Field, and the Hallow Dr Barnardos home was another site.

The last watermill working commercially in Worcestershire was Mildenham Mill, in Claines, which was again probably on a Roman site on the River Salwarpe.

The name comes from the Saxon, Mil-den-Hom, which means 'home of the miller'.

Mildenham Mill 1870

The first black and white photo shows a busy day at the Mill in 1870.

The large covered wagon loading at the mill with sacks of flour is the Millers Wagon.

These were the largest vehicles on our roads carrying three tons of flour and pulled by two Shire Horses.

The box wagon on the right was a Droitwich Bakery vehicle come for flour.

In the centre the family prepare to use their trap probably for a Worcester shopping expedition.

We restored a fine example of a Millers Waggon at Avoncroft Museum.

Mildenham Mill in 1918

The second black and white photo shows George Watts and Mrs Watts (nee Bill), with little Miss Doris Watts and her Aunt Miss Edith Bill.

The lovely horse trap was built by McNaughts Carriageworks, in The Tything Worcester.

They made carriages for the Royal Family and the Lord Mayor of London which are still used today.

Denis Watts entertains the Sinclair clan

This ceased working in 1970, when the miller, Denis Watts, retired.

The Mill is known by the older locals as Bill's Mill after the family.  

The last Herefordshire working watermill was at Cowarne Court, a very impressive structure.

Richard Galle adds:

Shelsley Watermill, at the foot of the famous hillclimb at Shelsley Walsh, will soon return to working order.

Shelsley Water Mill Society have been working to this end for the last two years and the full story can be found on their website: