Chesapeake Mill, Bridge Street, Wickham - geograph

The Chesapeake Mill is a

watermill A watermill or water mill is a mill that uses hydropower. It is a structure that uses a water wheel or water turbine to drive a mechanical process such as milling (grinding), rolling, or hammering. Such processes are needed in the production of ...

in Wickham,

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English citi ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. The

flour mill A gristmill (also: grist mill, corn mill, flour mill, feed mill or feedmill) grinds cereal grain into flour and middlings. The term can refer to either the grinding mechanism or the building that holds it. Grist is grain that has been separated ...

was constructed in 1820 using the timbers of HMS ''Chesapeake'', which had previously been the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

frigate A frigate () is a type of warship. In different eras, the roles and capabilities of ships classified as frigates have varied somewhat. The name frigate in the 17th to early 18th centuries was given to any full-rigged ship built for speed and ...

. The ''Chesapeake'' was attacked and boarded by HMS ''Leopard'' on 22 June 1807. It was released but the event caused an uproar among Americans (see

Chesapeake–Leopard affair The ''Chesapeake''–''Leopard'' affair was a naval engagement off the coast of Norfolk, Virginia, on June 22, 1807, between the British fourth-rate and the American frigate . The crew of ''Leopard'' pursued, attacked, and boarded the Americ ...

). It was captured on 1 June 1813 by the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...

frigate during

War of 1812 The War of 1812 (18 June 1812 – 17 February 1815) was fought by the United States of America and its indigenous allies against the United Kingdom and its allies in British North America, with limited participation by Spain in Florida. It bega ...

. In July 1819 the Commissioners of the Royal Navy put her up for sale at Plymouth. Joshua Holmes, a

ship breaker ''Ship Breaker'' is a 2010 young adult novel by Paolo Bacigalupi set in a post-apocalyptic future. Human civilization is in decline for ecological reasons. The polar ice caps have melted and New Orleans is underwater. On the Gulf Coast nea ...

in Portsmouth, purchased her for £500; he dismantled the ship and sold her timbers for £3,450.Winfield (2007), p. 176. Eventually her timbers became part of the mill.Beach (1986), p. 113. Timbers from the ''Chesapeake'' were bought by John Prior, who was preparing to build a new mill at Wickham. The five main spine beams to each floor, the floor joists, the roof timbers and most of the window lintels are of American

longleaf pine The longleaf pine (''Pinus palustris'') is a pine species native to the Southeastern United States, found along the coastal plain from East Texas to southern Virginia, extending into northern and central Florida. In this area it is also known as ...

from the ship. The mill remained in operation until 1976 and now serves as a retail centre for antique and gift sellers. It is a Grade II*

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

. In 1996 a timber fragment from the Chesapeake Mill was returned to the United States; it is on display at the

Hampton Roads Naval Museum The Hampton Roads Naval Museum is one of ten Navy museums that are operated by the Naval History & Heritage Command. It celebrates the long history of the U.S. Navy in the Hampton Roads region of Virginia and is co-located with Nauticus in downt ...

in Norfolk, Virginia. In late 2020 another piece of the original frigate was returned to the United States. It was given to the U.S. Navy's

Secretary of the Navy The secretary of the Navy (or SECNAV) is a statutory officer () and the head (chief executive officer) of the Department of the Navy, a military department (component organization) within the United States Department of Defense. By law, the se ...

, during his visit to England.

References

External links

Chesapeake Mill website
{{Shopping centres in Southeast England Grade II* listed buildings in Hampshire Shopping centres in Hampshire Watermills in Hampshire Industrial buildings completed in 1820 Grade II* listed industrial buildings