Kingsbury Watermill is a

Grade II listed 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 ...

Pg.3 former watermill on the River Ver in

St Albans St Albans () is a cathedral city in Hertfordshire, England, east of Hemel Hempstead and west of Hatfield, Hertfordshire, Hatfield, north-west of London, south-west of Welwyn Garden City and south-east of Luton. St Albans was the first major ...

Hertfordshire Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is one of the home counties in southern England. It borders Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire to the north, Essex to the east, Greater London to the south, and Buckinghamshire to the west. For govern ...

, England.

History

There is no certain date of inception for Kingsbury Mill, however, the large quantity of timber used in its construction would point to it having been built during the Elizabethan era, on a site previously used for milling. A neighbouring

Grade II* listed 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 ...

barn has been dated to 1373, and as a result it is likely this was used to support the mill that stood on the site. During the eighteenth century a

Georgian Georgian may refer to: Common meanings * Anything related to, or originating from Georgia (country) ** Georgians, an indigenous Caucasian ethnic group ** Georgian language, a Kartvelian language spoken by Georgians **Georgian scripts, three scrip ...

brick facade added. Since this time, the Mill has remained largely unchanged. Kingsbury Mill stood in land belonging to

St Albans Abbey St Albans Cathedral, officially the Cathedral and Abbey Church of St Alban but often referred to locally as "the Abbey", is a Church of England cathedral in St Albans, England. Much of its architecture dates from Norman times. It ceased to be ...

at the time of the dissolution of the monasteries across the country. The mill is again referred to 1568 when a "watermill and free fishery in St Michael's" were conveyed to Sir Nicholas Bacon by John and Frances Machell. Following the death of Sir Nicholas and his eldest son Anthony, the Gorhambury Estate, and thus the mill, passed on to noted scientist and statesmen Francis Bacon. Following Francis' death, the estate was bequeathed to

Thomas Meautys Sir Thomas Meautys (1592–1649) was an English civil servant and politician who sat in the House of Commons between 1621 and 1640. Biography Meautys was the son of Thomas Meautys of West Ham and of St Julian's Hospital, Hertfordshire, and his ...

who was married to Anne Bacon, the great granddaughter of Sir Nicholas. The estate was purchased from Meautys by

Sir Harbottle Grimston ''Sir'' is a formal honorific address in English for men, derived from Sire in the High Middle Ages. Both are derived from the old French "Sieur" (Lord), brought to England by the French-speaking Normans, and which now exist in French only as ...

, the forerunner of the Earl of Verulam title. The mill was modernised in the 19th century, and is reported to have been fully functional up until the 1960s. The milling machinery was subsequently restored in 1972, which included two pairs of

millstone Millstones or mill stones are stones used in gristmills, for grinding wheat or other grains. They are sometimes referred to as grindstones or grinding stones. Millstones come in pairs: a convex stationary base known as the ''bedstone'' and ...

s and a breastshot wheel.

Present day

Banoffee Waffle - The Waffle House, Kingsbury Watermill

No longer used as a functioning mill, Kingsbury has been home to a restaurant – The Waffle House – since 1978. The restaurant specialises in sweet and savoury

Belgian waffles Outside of Belgium, Belgian waffles are a variety of waffle with a lighter batter, larger squares, and deeper pockets than American waffles. Belgian waffles were originally leavened with yeast, but baking powder is now often used. They are often ...

, the flour for which is milled at the

Redbournbury Mill Redbournbury Mill, is a Grade II* listed flour mill in Redbournbury, Hertfordshire, England, which is thought to have been first built in the early 11th Century. Having operated as a watermill on the River Ver, the mill is now powered by a dies ...

, approximately 3 miles away, which was also formerly part of the Gorhambury Estate. The large block of stone at the front of the mill is

Hertfordshire puddingstone Hertfordshire puddingstone is a conglomerate sedimentary rock composed of rounded flint pebbles cemented together by a younger matrix of silica quartz. The distinctive rock is largely confined to the English counties of Buckinghamshire and Hert ...

References

External links

The Waffle House
{{authority control Buildings and structures in St Albans Grade II listed buildings in Hertfordshire History of St Albans River Ver Watermills in Hertfordshire Restaurants in Hertfordshire

History

Present day

See also

References

External links