Clewer Mill Stream is a narrow twisting backwater of the

River Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the The Isis, River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the Longest rivers of the United Kingdom, se ...

near

Windsor, Berkshire Windsor is a historic market town and unparished area in the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead in Berkshire, England. It is the site of Windsor Castle, one of the official residences of the British monarch. The town is situated west of ...

, England, which leaves the main river at Bush Ait and rejoins just above

Queen Elizabeth Bridge The Queen Elizabeth Bridge is a road bridge just to the west of the town of Windsor, Berkshire, England. The bridge carries the A332 Royal Windsor Way across the River Thames, on the reach between Romney Lock and Boveney Lock. The bridge wa ...

. It is about 1.5 miles long. Clewer Mill Stream is named after the

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 ...

that it once drove. Clewer Mill Stream has provided food, power, fresh water, safe harbour and navigable access to the Thames for the small settlement of

Clewer Clewer (also known as Clewer Village) is an ecclesiastical parish and an area of Windsor, Berkshire, Windsor in the county of Berkshire, England. Clewer makes up three Ward (electoral subdivision), wards of the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maid ...

since the 10th century. In 1198 the

Knights Templar , colors = White mantle with a red cross , colors_label = Attire , march = , mascot = Two knights riding a single horse , equipment ...

s of

Bisham Bisham is a village and civil parish in the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead in Berkshire, England. The village is on the River Thames, around south of Marlow in the neighbouring county of Buckinghamshire, and around northwest of Maide ...

granted a

fishery Fishery can mean either the enterprise of raising or harvesting fish and other aquatic life; or more commonly, the site where such enterprise takes place ( a.k.a. fishing ground). Commercial fisheries include wild fisheries and fish farms, both ...

at Clewer to Richard de Sifrewast. The

corn 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 ...

at Clewer was first mentioned in the

Domesday Book Domesday Book () – the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book" – is a manuscript record of the "Great Survey" of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 by order of King William I, known as William the Conqueror. The manusc ...

with a value of 10

shilling The shilling is a historical coin, and the name of a unit of modern currencies formerly used in the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, other British Commonwealth countries and Ireland, where they were generally equivalent to 12 pence o ...

s and there has been a building on the site ever since. In 1781 the mill burnt down and its machinery, which had been visited by

George III George III (George William Frederick; 4 June 173829 January 1820) was King of Great Britain and of Ireland from 25 October 1760 until the union of the two kingdoms on 1 January 1801, after which he was King of the United Kingdom of Great Br ...

as it was so "singular and curious", was destroyed. The mill was rebuilt after the fire, and although the water level was affected by the building of the

weir A weir or low head dam is a barrier across the width of a river that alters the flow characteristics of water and usually results in a change in the height of the river level. Weirs are also used to control the flow of water for outlets of l ...

s at Romney and

Boveney Lock Boveney Lock is a lock on the River Thames situated on the Buckinghamshire bank opposite the Windsor Racecourse and close to Eton Wick. Boveney is a village a little way upstream on the same side. The lock was first built in 1838 by the Th ...

s, Clewer Mill was operational until the late 19th century. In the 1920s Clewer Mill House was the home of a Mrs Moscockle who used to dress like Queen Mary and wave regally to pedestrians from her

Rolls-Royce Rolls-Royce (always hyphenated) may refer to: * Rolls-Royce Limited, a British manufacturer of cars and later aero engines, founded in 1906, now defunct Automobiles * Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, the current car manufacturing company incorporated in ...

as she was driven around Windsor. Clewer Mill Stream was once a popular haunt of schoolboys from nearby

Eton College Eton College () is a public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1440 by Henry VI under the name ''Kynge's College of Our Ladye of Eton besyde Windesore'',Nevill, p. 3 ff. intended as a sister institution to King's College, C ...

although it was, along with the Thames itself, officially out-of-bounds and a punishment of 100 lines could be given by a

sixth form In the education systems of England, Northern Ireland, Wales, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago and some other Commonwealth countries, sixth form represents the final two years of secondary education, ages 16 to 18. Pupils typically prepare for A-l ...

er to any "lower boy" (roughly the first two years) caught "shooting ater birds/nowiki> in the Clewer Stream". An account from the 1840s of life at Eton describes the thrill of

sculling Sculling is the use of oars to propel a boat by moving them through the water on both sides of the craft, or moving one oar over the stern. A long, narrow boat with sliding seats, rigged with two oars per rower may be referred to as a scull, it ...

up the backwater to the mill and waiting until the "miller was at dinner" to carry one's

skiff A skiff is any of a variety of essentially unrelated styles of small boats. Traditionally, these are coastal craft or river craft used for leisure, as a utility craft, and for fishing, and have a one-person or small crew. Sailing skiffs have devel ...

around the

mill wheel A water wheel is a machine for converting the energy of flowing or falling water into useful forms of power, often in a watermill. A water wheel consists of a wheel (usually constructed from wood or metal), with a number of blades or bucket ...

and launch it into the "mill-stream where it was really dangerous, above the wheel". The tract of land between Clewer Mill Stream and the main channel of the Thames is a meadow called The Rays which has been used for

horse racing Horse racing is an equestrian performance sport, typically involving two or more horses ridden by jockeys (or sometimes driven without riders) over a set distance for competition. It is one of the most ancient of all sports, as its basic p ...

meetings since 1866. It is now the site of Royal Windsor Racecourse. The upstream part of Clewer Mill Stream from Bush Ait forms the entrance channel to Windsor Racecourse Marina, providing a maximum

draft Draft, The Draft, or Draught may refer to: Watercraft dimensions * Draft (hull), the distance from waterline to keel of a vessel * Draft (sail), degree of curvature in a sail * Air draft, distance from waterline to the highest point on a vessel ...

of , but much less during

drought A drought is defined as drier than normal conditions.Douville, H., K. Raghavan, J. Renwick, R.P. Allan, P.A. Arias, M. Barlow, R. Cerezo-Mota, A. Cherchi, T.Y. Gan, J. Gergis, D. Jiang, A. Khan, W. Pokam Mba, D. Rosenfeld, J. Tierney, an ...

. The downstream section, below the marina is unnavigable by powered craft except for a short reach from the mouth of the stream upstream to Clewer Boatyard. At the downstream end, just before the stream rejoins the main river Thames, is

White Lilies Island ''White Lilies Island'' is the second studio album by Australian singer Natalie Imbruglia released by RCA Records in the United Kingdom on 5 November 2001. The name of this album comes from the location of Imbruglia's home in Windsor, on a peni ...

References

{{authority control Rivers of Berkshire 0ClewerMillStream