X216

Greenfield Mill

1694 - 1845

From: 1694 To: 1845

Short History of Greenfield Mill Greenfield Mill is the successor of a mill rented by the Abbey of Woburn from Dunstable Priory in the Middle Ages. Between about 1200 and 1230 William Pirot and Henry of Northwood (the latter being a tenant of Henry Buignon) granted their shares in a mill at Greenfield to the Prior and Canons of Dunstable Priory "with pond fishing and meadow and with right of multure over the rustics of the said Henry" (Right to exact a tax for his villeins using the mill to grind their corn). The grant was made with three-quarters of an acre of meadow. By 1234 it appears that the Abbot and monks of Woburn were renting a mill at Greenfield from Dunstable Priory for a rent of 26s a year. In that year (1234) a convention was made between the abbey and the priory "concerning mills in Greenfield with regard to the raising of a dam and the diversion of a water course". Woburn Abbey was still renting it for 20s a year in 1535. With the dissolution of the religious houses it passed to the Crown. On 26 June 1562 Queen Elizabeth leased it for 21 years to George Bradyman at a rent of 26s 8d per year, and on 16 June 1581 the lease was renewed to his widow, Edith, for a further term of 21 years. In this lease it is described as the "tyled" mill and "part of the manor of Pulloxhill and Greenfield formerly belonging to the monastery of Woburn". The mill in 1581 was actually occupied by Thomas Johnson, no doubt the miller Nothing further is heard of the mill until 1677 when in a deed of that date it is described as " a messuage in Greenfield with a watermill adjoining (now 4 mills) called the Tiled Mill, together with the mill-bank adjoining (1 acre) and four acres of meadow". Then it was in the possession of one Thomas Tomalin. The earliest deed in the present collection is dated 1694. The miller, John Manfield, was seized of the mill in fee simple and it is described as a "watermill (now four mills), the Tyled Mill, with messuage adjoining". One acre of millbank on the Flitton side of the stream and five acres of meadowground in Millmead, Pulloxhill, also belonged to the mill. This description of the land and mill hardly alters in the 151 years covered by these deeds. In 1735 the mill was sold to Benjamin Greene, trustee for Thomas Haines of Middlesex, who disposed of it to William Clark, miller, of Flitton, in 1737. William Clark, only son of our original William Clark was miller in 1774, when he sold the mill to Philip Fowler of Chalton, Toddington. Philip Fowler died in late 1799 or early 1800 and left the mill to his daughter, Mary. At this time Joseph Clark was miller and his sister, Sarah, lived with him. They were cousins of Mary Fowler and agreed to have her to live with them and to give her "board, lodging and medical care" until her death, in return for a 500 year lease of the 5 acres in Millmead, and the freehold of the Tiled Mill and the millbank. Miss Fowler died in 1818. In 1807, Joseph Clark added a plot of land in Flitwick to the estate. A deed of 1825 describes the house adjoining the mill as "partly rebuilt". Joseph Clark died in 1830 and bequeathed the mill to his sons, Joseph and William. The will mentions another freehold messuage where Joseph Clark the son lived. William Clark died in 1834 and left his share of the mill and land to his sister, Mary Horley, whose husband, Charles, was a coach proprietor at Markyate, Hertfordshire. Thirty-eight perches of land on the south side of the mill stream, bequeathed to Mary Horley, now became part of the land attached to the mill. By 1834 the Clarks must have ceased to occupy the mill, since the watermill and acre of millbank is now described as "all now occupied by Henry Sharp". In 1835 the mill was leased to Henry Sharp for twelve years at a rent of £120 per annum. It was sold to Abraham Fossey of Hertfordshire in the same year, and he sold it to William Claridge, a grocer of Ampthill. Claridge sold it to Thomas Hine and John Steed of Hertfordshire, in 1835 but he bought it back in 1845. We have a list of millers which brings the history of mill owners or occupiers up to the present day. The dates in brackets indicate that the person named was known to be at Greenfield in that year. This information comes largely from Kelly's Directories. The list of millers is as follows:- A John Randall, Randall or Randle was in possession until 1869: Richard and Randall (1877): George Claridge, Flitton (1894-1906): Charles John Rosson (1910): Copping and Sibley (1914-1924): Sibley and Company (1928-1940). Mr G A C Goddard is the present owner. He came to the the mill as an employee in 1832. Mr Goddard told us that George Claridge put in the roller milling plant at a cost of about £2,000. This was removed about 1928. Note: In the Bedford County Records, Volume 1 of the Calendar of Sessions Books, there are some entries for 14 July 1651 which appear to refer to Greenfield Mill. They record the indictment of William Gregory, late of Flitwick, miller, for turning a watercourse running from Flitwick to Greenfield. On the same day William Gregory and a labourer, Thomas Welles of Flitwick, were fined for the diversion of the course of a river running from Flitwick to Greenfield. Marke Goodbody of Flitton, miller, Joan, his wife and Elizabeth Norman of Flitwick, spinster, were all fined for an assault on William Gregory, and he and Thomas Welles for an assault on Marke Goodbody. All "confessed with protest".

fonds

Greenfield Mill, MILLS, Greenfield