Baldock's Mill

The Domesday Book of 1086, the great land survey ordered by William the Conqueror, records that six water mills existed in Bourne at that time out of an estimated 5,000 mills in the whole country. They were owned by Oger the Breton and produced an income of thirty shillings a year. He also had two parts of the profits from another mill that brought in a further five shillings a year. Other landowners in Bourne are also recorded as having "parts of mills", a system we would refer to today as shares, but it is not known how many there were. These values seem insignificant by today's monetary standards but in Norman times they were a most important incomes for the Lords of the Manor. 

Another source of manorial revenue in the late 11th century were fisheries and there were 24 in Bourne. Ivo Taillebois had three that brought in eight pence a year while Alfred of Lincoln had six producing sixteen pence and the revenue from Oger's six fisheries is counted in terms of produce rather than currency and amounted to 2,500 eels. A further fifteen fisheries are mentioned in the Domesday Book entry for Bourne and so they would appear to be a quite important business venture. Imagine a pound consisting of 240 pence, as it was before the introduction of decimal currency, and you will have some idea of the amounts involved. The fisheries continued to play an important role in providing food, the monks of Bourne Abbey having their own Monk's Pool, now the site of the outdoor swimming pool, where carp were bred for the monastery table. 

Three of the mills mentioned in the Domesday Book survived into the 20th century although only Baldock's Mill still stands today at No. 21 South Street. Cliffe's Mill was situated behind Numbers 25 to 31 West Street and was also known as West Street Mill. It was the first of the three to cease working and was pulled down around 1910. A gear wheel, millstones and other remains were found by pupils engaged on the restoration of Baldock's Mill when they dug on the site in 1973. The third was Notley's Mill, demolished in 1973.

The only thing we know about the present Baldock's Mill is that it was built on the banks of the Bourne Eau in 1800. It operated until the mid-1920's and takes its name from the last family to work it, i.e. Baldock. The mill wheel was 15 ft in diameter by 3 ft wide and there was a smaller fly wheel measuring 5 ft by 1 ft. Corn was brought in to be ground into animal feed by farmers and smallholders who paid for the grinding. Maize was also split for chicken feed and horse beans and a flour dresser provided sufficient for the family's own use. Two sets of stones operated on the first floor fed from hoppers on the floor above, the corn being lifted up from the ground floor where it had been previously delivered by a chain hoist driven, like the stones, by the wooden undershot water wheel. Access to the two upper floors by the miller was by ladders. The mill operated twice a day for three hours and this time was increased by the digging of the leg between the paddock that is now the War Memorial Gardens and the Wellhead cottage. After powering Baldock's Mill, the water then ran downstream and could be used by Notley's Mill in Eastgate. 

A gas engine was run at other times to provide power and as the owner, Mr Frederick Baldock, ran a carpentry and timber business from the premises, it also kept his saw bench in operation. Ground meal was packed on the downstairs floor, using the same bags brought in by the farmers, then hoisted up to the store on the first floor ready for collection via a wooden chute that was attached to the iron bar that can still be seen today below the stable door entrance. The mill stopped working about 1924 when the water wheel collapsed and was not repaired although the timber business continued to operate from the building for several years. The wheel and machinery were removed but the mill race that turned the wheel can still be seen within the building, now scheduled Grade II as being of architectural and historic interest. 

The mill was listed in 1973 when the task of restoring the building began. The early work was carried out by boys and girls from Bourne Secondary School (now the Robert Manning Technology College) under the guidance of teachers Mike Watkins and Alan Dawn. It was then envisaged that the building would eventually become an industrial and agricultural museum but no firm plans had been drawn up. Nevertheless, the youngsters tackled the work with gusto, chipping and renovating  brickwork, plastering, fitting new doors, painting and decorating. The roof was repaired and broken windows re-glazed and while work was going ahead, gifts of old equipment and other artefacts began to arrive for the museum display planned for the building.

Bourne Civic Society eventually stepped in with a proposal to run the mill as a Heritage Centre and in 1981, Bourne United Charities agreed to lease it to them for a peppercorn rent in order that it would be preserved for community use. This lease was renewed in 2002 for a further 21 years and the full potential of the building in this new role is slowly being realised. Further restoration work has been carried out by a dedicated band of helpers and although funds have been slow in coming, a Heritage Centre has already been established with a memorial room dedicated to the life and times of Raymond Mays, the motor racing pioneer who lived in the town. This feature was opened on 29th August 1999 by the local MP Mr Quentin Davies, the member for Grantham and Stamford, and the display includes the racing goggles worn by Raymond Mays, some of his trophies and an impressive display of old photographs reflecting his career. 

Part of the Raymond Mays Memorial Room at the Heritage Centre (left), containing an impressive collection of photographs from his career, and one of the main rooms displaying artefacts and documents from past times in Bourne (right).

Other rooms are slowly being filled with artefacts and archive material relating to the town's history including a detailed survey of the water supplies that brought commercial success a century ago, railway maps and memorabilia from the days when Bourne was a rail junction, the old water cress beds, the brewing industry and a history of the Bourne Eau, a photographic record of the life and times of Charles Worth (1825-95), the solicitor's son from Bourne who established an internationally famous fashion house in Paris, and a collection of old photographs showing aspects of Bourne in times past.

Also on display are the stones from an Anglo-Saxon arch reputed to have been removed from Bourne Abbey during restoration work in the late 19th century. They were taken to the old vicarage, now the Cedars residential care home for the elderly, where they stood in the copse area adjoining the church hall until the vicarage was sold in the mid-1980s. The field adjoining the mill was also known as Baldock's Paddock but this was acquired by Bourne United Charities in 1947 and the land used for the creation of an open space incorporating a stone cenotaph with the names of the dead from two world wars in a dignified setting which we know today as the War Memorial Gardens. 

Baldock's Mill pictured from the rear

In June 2001, the Heritage Centre was presented with a silver rose bowl by the Rotary Club of Bourne for the most outstanding community achievement during the previous 12 months, an award that was handed over to the chairman of the Civic Society, Mrs Brenda Jones, at a special lunch. The same award was presented to the society for a second time in 2004, this time recognising the work of society member Jim Jones carried out during 2002-03 on restoring the two water wheels that originally powered the mill. The project cost £12,000 and was funded through grants, mainly from Lincolnshire County Council, which enabled the society bring the building back into its original state when it was used for milling corn. As a result, in the summer of 2005, he was presented with a highly commended certificate by Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust for his achievement as part of an awards scheme launched in 1992 to promote the environment and raise awareness of wildlife and conservation.

The mill was part of the Marquess of Exeter's estate and from 1856 it was operated by John Baxter Shilcock, the maternal grandfather of Raymond Mays. His family had many business interests in the town including ownership of the Star Brewery but he also served as a local magistrate and a prominent councillor and was the first chairman of Bourne Urban District Council from 1899-1900. Thomas Pick was employed as his manager from 1876 until 1885 and he was succeeded by William Hudson who continued in the job until 1890. Subsequent millers were William Townson from 1896-1900 and John Pocklington who continued until 1913 when Frederick Baldock, who was both a miller and a carpenter, took over. 

The Baldock family probably moved here from Stickford Mill near Boston. Frederick and Annie Baldock had four sons, Frank, Harold, Richard and John, who was known as Jack. The names of two of the sons, Frank and Harold, appear on the wooden framed memorial plaque in Bourne Abbey that lists a Roll of Honour of those who were killed during the First World War from 1914 to 1918. They are among ninety names under the heading: "For God, King & Country - The Heroic Dead. Greater Love Hath no Man than this". 

Jack Baldock, the last miller (left), pictured on the Bourne Eau behind Baldock's Mill with his son Richard in a motor-powered punt. Richard was killed in a motor cycle accident on the Spalding Road soon after this picture was taken in July 1937.

A wooden bridge once straddled the Bourne Eau behind Baldock's Mill to  give easy access to the field behind, then known as Baldock's Paddock but now the War Memorial Gardens.

Their names also appear on the cenotaph in the War Memorial Gardens but with the initials only. Frank, who was born at Stickford, enlisted at the outbreak of the Great War and was serving as a lance corporal with the 6th Battalion, the Lincolnshire Regiment when he was killed in action at Gallipoli on 9th August 1915 in the vicinity of Scimitar Hill, Suvla. His name is also commemorated on the Helles Memorial in Gallipoli. He had only been married for a few years before his death and the couple had one child. Harold was a Boy 1st Class with the Royal Navy but died at the age of 17 while serving aboard HMS Natal, a 13,500-ton armoured cruiser when it sank on 30th December 1915 after an accidental internal explosion at Cromarty Harbour in Scotland, causing the death of 421 men out of a complement of 704. His name is also commemorated on the Chatham Naval Memorial. Jack, the third son, was wounded in action but survived the war and rejoined his father at the mill. 

Frederick Baldock was more interested in carpentry than milling, having served his apprenticeship at Keal Cotes, near Spilsby, and even after moving to Bourne he worked primarily in this trade. His workshop was on the land attached to the mill that now forms part of the Wellhead Gardens and was demolished to make way for the Darby and Joan Hall in 1959. The business was a prosperous one, specialising in crates for packaging, gates and fences.

The name Baldock (also Baldick) actually means Baghdad and dates back to the 12th century, from the town Baldock in Hertfordshire, England, founded by the Knights Templar who named it after the Arabian city then known to them as Baldac, an early French form of the name. A 12th century record also gives the name as Baldoce. Recorded Baldocks in England include Hugh de Baldoca (1185), Thomas Baldac (1280) and William Baldocke (1460). 

Frederick Baldock ran the business until 1937 when his son Jack took over and after his death, his daughter Mrs. Ray continued the family tradition and was the last person to occupy the mill where she lived with her mother who finally moved out in 1968. The Baldock family were therefore associated with the mill for more than half a century and it seems probable that there is also a distant family connection with the original owners of a Baldock's Mill in the United States because in past centuries, families tended to remain in the same occupation, although that is less true today. In 1741, a convict called Richard Baldock was sentenced to be deported from England to the colonies for seven years after being found guilty of stealing a cow but he married after his release and his son, also called Richard, built Baldock's Mill in Amherst County, Virginia. This mill continued in business until 1940 when it was sold and although the building has been destroyed on two occasions, once by flood and then by fire, it has since been rebuilt and is now known as Brightwell's Mill.

BALDOCK'S MILL IN PAST TIMES

Baldock's Mill in 1888

Baldock's Mill in 1888 (above) from an engraving by Fred Miller.

Baldock's Mill circa 1910

Baldock's Mill pictured circa 1910 (above) before intensified water extraction 
reduced river levels and (below) a similar view from the same period.

Baldock's Mill circa 1910

Baldock's Mill circa 1910

Another photograph from the same period showing a woman feeding the
ducks while her daughter looks on.

REVISED JULY 2005

A photographic record of Baldock's Mill before restoration

The Mill Wheels Restoration Project

Baldock's Mill from the rear     Baldock's Mill in winter

See also Frank and Harold Baldock     Notley's Mill

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