Site of Morton Mill, Morton Bagot.

Description of this historic site

The site of Morton Mill, a watermill. Documentary evidence suggests the mill was in use between the Medieval and the Imperial periods. It may have been used as a needle mill in the early 19th century. Some earthworks survive. It stood 500m south west of Morton Plantation.

Notes about this historic site

1 Thomas Bullocke was miller here in 1680. It may well have been a needle mill in the early 19th century. By 1854 it had been converted into a corn mill. Further information exists for ownership in the 19th century.
2 A very large and reliable water supply is available. The water is conveyed from a stream to a linear pond which provides a head of water at its SE end. Remains of masonry walling at this point indicate the location of some of the mill buildings. Laid bricks are also still in place near the intake to the linear pond and timbers may represent the remains of a dam across the stream diverting the water at this point. A large linear earthen bank formerly held water within the linear pond. It is now breached and the pond is dry. Two mills called Moreton Mills are recorded in 1757, this could refer to two mill-stones on the same site. The position of one waterwheel can be ascertained – at the SE end of the linear leat/pond. The mill was still in existence in 1820. A mill is recorded in 1290 and appears regularly in a series of deeds from 1294 onwards. The mill continued to be occupied until 1861, but after 1871 the mill house stood empty. The date at which the mill ceased to function is uncertain.
6 Morton Mill has a tenuous link with needlemaking. It is based mainly on the evidence of its ownership in the early 19th century by Thomas Holyoake, a Redditch needlemaker.
7 Photo.
8 Plans.

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