THE MILLING LIFE

The miller stands at the door of his mill engaged in conversation with a ruddy faced farmer who has just brought a cart load of feed to be ground for his pigs. The white sails of the windmill whirl above in the sunshine whilst inside the mill shafts of light illuminate the dust in the air and the steady rumble of the stones proclaims the mill to be at work. All is industry and contentment; a vision of rural England. But is this really what is was like? Did every mill have a jolly miller? Was trade always good? A glance through the archives reveals disasters, storms, theft, bankruptcy, riots, explosions, suicide.

Let us look at Nottinghamshire's windmills - some still standing, many long gone - and find the miller's other tale. Keep a weather eye open For the man who runs a windmill the weather is of the utmost importance as it is, of course, his source of power. Unless he has some other means of running the mill such as a steam engine - and few mills did - when there is no wind he cannot work. Yet the weather can also be a foe for gales may damage the mill and lightning strike it.

Longbottom's Mill at Tuxford was struck on a summer's afternoon in 1885. The miller was at work at the time and had a lucky escape. The Miller journal describes the calamity:

'One of the sails was split in two or three places, the wooden roof ripped open, a massive wooden roller rent into fragments, gas piping torn away and the silks of the dressing machines burnt to ashes. On the ground floor the gas meter was lifted up and hurled through one of the windows, tearing away the woodwork along with it. Mr Longbottom was there at work. His hair as well as the whiskers on one side was burnt off and his face skinned. He was much shaken and had to take to his bed'.

Even more damage seems to have been caused to a mill at Sutton on Trent July 1845 as the Doncaster Gazette recorded:

'Between the hours of 9 and 12 on the night of Sunday last, a tremendous thunderstorm passed over the towns of Newark and East Retford. A Smock Wind Mill at Sutton on Trent, the property of Mr Pindar at that place, was completely destroyed'. Other mills also suffered from the weather … 'The recent high winds … damage. At Walkeringham the wind carried away completely the roof, sails and brickwork of Messrs Clark's windmill. The damage is estimated at £200.'
(Stamford Mercury 31.12.1852)

'In the gale of December 1822 all four sails were blown off the mill belonging to Mr Joseph Withers.'
(Mansfield in the 18th Century, A S Buxton)

'The sack chain was once welded solid when the mill [Farndon] was struck by lightning … On one occasion lightning cut the weight chain and the weights, chain and all fell through the wash-house roof.'
(Rex Wailes)

'The total destruction by fire, in the afternoon of Thursday 22nd August, of a windmill, is reported from East Farndon. This mill is believed to have been set on fire by a flash of lightning during the severe storm which raged in that neighbourhood on that day. The mill is said to have been insured.'
(The Miller 2.9.1895)

'On January 15th the windmill on Clarborough Hill, at Retford, caught fire. The local fire brigade was quickly on the spot, but nothing could be done to save the building, which was totally destroyed. The fire originated through the friction caused by the gale, which released the gripes, and drove the sails round with immense velocity.'
(The Miller 3.2.1896)

Wooden post mills were particularly vulnerable to the effects of the weather. The lower supporting timbers of the mill were sometimes actually buried in the ground and even more likely to rot than the rest of the mill. But it was not just the mill that might come to harm. At Kersall a storm in 1840 …

'raged with great violence, and considerable damage was done, the windmill of Mr Lightfoot was blown down and rendered useless. Mr Lightfoot was in the mill, and happily escaped with a broken collar bone from the falling timbers'.
(Stamford Mercury 27.11.1840)

A similar fate befell the miller at a post mill that had stood on the site now occupied by the restored Green's Mill in Sneinton. The Nottingham Review of October 1836 was most sympathetic to the plight of the poor miller in the days before Sickness Benefit:

'On Tuesday morning, at an early hour, Mr Pepper's windmill, on Snenton-hill, was blown down, and the miller, Wm. Kew, who was at work at the time, unhappily had one of his legs severely fractured. He was taken to the infirmary, and is doing well; but unfortunately four motherless children are thus deprived of his attentions. This is a case for the exercise of charity. The mill is a very old one, and we are informed, that it has been in active employment more than half a century. It has been removed in that period, on rollers, to more than one site. The last migration was from the spot on which the mill of Mr Green now stands, to its late situation'.

At Gringley on the Hill in the north of the county the post mill was much exposed to the weather … 'Gringley Hill at the equal distance of 6 miles from Gainsborough and Bawtry is the highest elevation in Nottinghamshire, is open to all the winds of the German Ocean and presented a deplorable spectacle after the storm of last week. A windmill in the neighbourhood was blown down:

'It was not just the weather that caused the destruction of mills - though in this instance the initial cause isn't stated … On Sunday 26th ult., about seven o'clock, a windmill at Southwell, on the Nottingham Road, was discovered to be on fire. The Southwell engines, with several hundred people, were quickly on the spot, but their assistance was rendered of no avail from a total absence of water. The flames raged with terrific violence, and in a short time the mill was reduced to a heap of ruins. It was the property of Mr Newstead, of Loughborough, and tenanted by Mr Arnold, of Southwell.'
(Stamford Mercury 8.12.1843)

More modern technology brought its own hazards as happened at Bonser's Mill in Cropwell Bishop where

'… the mill was blown down in a gale many years ago and at the time a Mr Smith was in the mill and was killed as the mill collapsed … the windmill was replaced by a steam mill nearer the village but was put out of action through the boiler bursting'.

Old wooden post mills that had outlived their usefulness often came in handy for a village celebration as happened at Bradmore where the mill was burnt on November the Fifth 1880.

A WORKING MILL

Working in a mill was a dangerous occupation. In the days before the Factory Acts ensured safer conditions, the turning machinery and whirling sails were always there to catch the unwary miller. The newspapers of the day reported accidents with every lurid detail:

'A dreadful accident happened at a windmill near Kimberley, Notts on Tuesday afternoon the 20th inst. Thomas Sills, second son of the owner (a respectable farmer residing at Cossall) was engaged in grinding corn at the mill when his clothes were caught by the horizontal axle in the works (used for dressing flour etc.) and dreadful to relate his body was lacerated in a shocking manner; his head was nearly severed from his shoulders, and his legs and other parts of his body were literally dashed to pieces. It is supposed that he had been turned round on the axle for about an hour before he was discovered.'
(Yorkshire Gazette 8.12.1827)

'A serious accident happened at South Clifton last week. A young man of the name of Cooper was passing his father's windmill, when the sail caught him and he was so dreadfully mangled that although yet alive there is no hope of his recovery.'
(Stamford Mercury 6.5.1814)

'At Mansfield, on the 19th inst., Loverseed Fryer, 22 years of age, was found entangled in the wheelwork of his mill, and dashed to pieces in a most shocking manner. One of his men, who had been out to fetch corn, was told by a person passing that somethingbwas wrong at the mill, and he immediately stopped it. On going up the mill stairs they found the body of the deceased naked, with the exception of a handkerchief round his neck; it is supposed that he had climbed upon the hurst to let the spout off, when the upright spindle caught his clothes, and whirled him round till they were completely torn from him; the body was horribly mangled, the right arm being torn off at the elbow, the left arm dashed to pieces and both legs completely gone below the knees. Small fragments of flesh and bones were found scattered about the mill, and also at a distance of twelve yards outside.'
(Stamford Mercury 29.1.1841)

'A fatal accident happened on Thursday the 1st., to a youth named James Crampton, in the employ of Mr Oldham, miller, Newark. He was told by his master to go down into the roundhouse, but instead of descending the stairs he walked upon the platform erected for adjusting the sails and proceeded to jump down, when one of the sails struck him upon the head. He died shortly afterwards.'
(Stamford Mercury 9.6.1854)

'A melancholy accident happened at Newark on Sunday morning last, to Mr William Sales, nephew of Mr Pearce, miller, of that place; he unfortunately slipped amongst the wheels of the mill adjoining Winthorpe Road, and his head being caught by the cogs, was crushed to death in so dreadful a manner as to cause instant death.'
(Stamford Mercury 5.12.1823)

It may have been the very same reporter who wrote of the same incident for another newspaper…

'A dreadful accident happened on the 30th ult. at the windmill on Winthorpe Road, near Newark. A young man, named Sales, aged between 19 and 20, who had been at work at the mill all night, was unfortunately caught, about 9 o'clock in the morning by the machinery, and his head being drawn into the works, was crushed to pieces.'
(Yorkshire Gazette 5.12.1823)

Whilst in one of the thirteen or so mills that once stood on Forest Road in Nottingham …'At the close of Mr Bailey's tenancy it was occupied by Thomas Mackley [Madley?], to whom, on the night of 27th April 1842, a terrible fatality occurred. He was at work in the mill when, from some cause unknown, a portion of his clothes became entangled in the machinery. A youth who assisted him, hearing his screams, immediately stopped the mill, when he was extricated and taken to the General Hospital; but his injuries were of such a serious character as to cause his death the same night (aged 53 years). He was interred in Old Radford cemetery where there is a stone erected to his memory.
(R Grainger)

Sometimes it was, perhaps, just hard work that took its toll …

'Died on 24th ult., suddenly, at Wheatley, Notts, aged 56, Mr B Crosby, miller. He had just delivered a load into the mill, when he felt unwell, and before he could be removed to his house he was a corpse.'
(Stamford Mercury 8.1.1841)

It was not just the millers who were at risk; sometimes the customers met with a tragic end. The Stamford Mercury told this sad tale in 1828:

'On Friday last, February 15, Robert Allison delivered a load of corn at Mr Clixby's windmill at Clarboro', near Retford, and after finishing his work went to the stable for the purpose of feeding his horses. Shortly afterwards, in returning to the mill, he was met by a violent hailstorm, and unable to see where he was going he approached too near to the sails of the mill when one of them struck him on the head and he was mutilated in a most dreadful manner. He lingered only a few minutes.'

MILLWRIGHTS

Building windmills was as hazardous as working in them; the Stamford Mercury again:

'On Friday last, as some men were raising the sails of a new mill erecting at Elston, a prop which supported them gave way and the sails fell with a tremendous crash on a youth about 14 years of age, literally burying his head in the earth, breaking his collar bone and otherwise seriously injuring him. There is hope of his recovery.'

The Ingledew's were a well-known family of millwrights working in the counties of Nottingham and Lincoln. Two brothers were killed whilst building Stoke's Mill at East Bridgford:

'On the 28th ult. an inquisition was held on the body of Thomas Ingledew, about 50 years of age, who lost his life falling from the wall of the mill now erecting there by Mr Stokes. The deceased was from Gainsborough, had been engaged to perform the millwright's work, and while walking on the wall of the upper floor, which is about 19 yards in height, stepped upon a part which is arched over a window on the outside, when the brickwork gave way and he was precipitated to the ground. His elder brother and he undertook the building of the mill at East Bridgford and since its commencement both of them have paid the debt of nature.'

THE MILLING BUSINESS

Despite the dangers there were always willing hands ready to take on any jobs that were going. A notice in the Stamford Mercury of 1838:

'Wanted. A single man who understands the millering and baking business. Apply to Mr Hourd, miller and baker, Granby, near Bingham'.

Some millers were particular about whom they engaged to work for them. The Stamford Mercury again:

'Wanted. A miller, A Wesleyan would be preferred. Apply Henry Capp, North Wheatley, near Sleaford'.

Yet when there was work to be done and customers waiting, the mill must turn:

'On the 23rd ult (1817) Edward Chumley, of Nottingham, miller, was fined five shillings and costs for exercising his worldy calling of a miller during divine service on Sunday 21st ult.'

But trade was not always good and many a miller in his solitary occupation must have brooded over his lot. The incident at Clubber's Mill in Newark in 1841 may stand for others in the records:

'On Friday morning last, on the man entering the mill of Mr Thomas Flour, miller, of Newark, he found him hanging and quite dead. The deceased had for sometime suffered under a depression of spirits, arising from bad circumstances'.

Poor man, the paper even got his name wrong; he was Mr Flear, not Flour.

As in any business there were rogues to be found as this correspondence in the Stamford Mercury shows …

'To be sold by private contract. A pair of French stones 5 feet in diameter, lately taken out of Cromwell Mill. These stones are allowed by competent judges to be the best pair in England, excepting none; they once ground 500 quarters of wheat, and all the brans and shorts out that quantity over again, at one dressing; they are very fast grinding stones and remarkable for keeping the colour of the flour. Also a very good machine for dressing flour, with case, brushes, etc, all complete: also a centre zinc and spindle, two pairs of regulators, 10 cast steel chisels and 9 picks, all nearly as good as new. For further particulars apply to Mr J Martin, millwright, Lincoln.'
(Stamford Mercury 9.6.1820)

'CAUTION TO MILLERS. Whereas a pair of French millstones have been recently advertised for sale in this paper, with reference to a Mr J Martin , millwright, Lincoln; we are directed by the owners of those mill-stones (from whose possession they have been illegally taken) to give notice that they are not the property of Mr J MArtin, nor of the person employed by him to sell them, and that anaction of trover will be commenced against aby person in whose possession they may be found. Tallents and Beevor, Newark, 27 June 1820.'
(Stamford Mercury 30.6.1820)

'FALSE AND MALICIOUS ADVERTISEMENT. Whereas an advertisement has twice lately appeared in this paper, signed Tallents and Beevor, Newark, giving notice that the mill-stones recently advertised herein for sale, with reference to a Mr J Martin, millwright, Lincoln, are not the property of the person employing him to sell them, and that an action will be commenced against any person in whose possession they may be found. THIS IS TO GIVE NOTICE that the said advertisement is both false and malicious, false in asserting that the said stones are the porperty of any other than the person employing the said J Martin to sell them; and malicious as the plain object of the advertisement is to deter any person from buying them by threatening an action against any person in whose possession they may be found; whilst these supposed owners, though they have long known whose possession they are in, have not dared to commence an action. The real owner hereby calls upon the said Messrs Tallents and Beevor to name these supposed owners, whom he challenges to substatiate any title they may claim to them. Lincoln, July 26, 1820'.
(Stamford Mercury 28.7.1820)

Alas,we don't yet know the outcome of this dispute over the ownership of the millstones. If the trials and tribulations of storm, accident and bad business were not enough, millers also had to contend with the wider problems of the times:

'During the Reform Riots of 1831, when Nottingham Castle was destroyed by fire, the mob marched from the Market Place to the Forest and attacked one of the mills owned by a man named Sharpe. They hacked the sails to pieces damaged the machinery, scattered all the flour and corn, and would have razed the mill to the ground but for the intervention of a troop of Huzzars'.

During the same riots Green's Mill in Sneinton was also attacked and it is said that George Green defended his property and family by firing at the mob from the windows of the mill whilst his daughter passed him powder and shot.

More common was theft from unattended mills:

'On Friday night a thief broke open the windmill door of Mr Robert Smith, of Kneesall, and stole six stones of flour and some candles'.
'On Saturday last the mill of Mr White, of Wheatley, near Gainsborough, was broken into and robbed of 30 stone of flour'.
'Last Sunday night an attempt was made to break into the windmill of Mr Widdowson, of Mansfield, but the rogues could not effect an entrance'.

Perhaps this picture of the hazards of the milling trade is as far from the truth as our image of the miller in his rural idyll. Many millers made a good living from their mills, a fact that notices advertising mills for sail did not omit to bring to the attention of prospective buyers. The Stamford Mercury announcing the sale of Tuxford mill in 1812:

'… any person properly qualified and paying a strict attention to business may, in a few years, accumulate a competent fortune'.

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