![Kent Town Rivers](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/40/Kent_Town_Rivers.svg)
The River Bourne rises in the parish of
Ightham
Ightham ( ) is a village in Kent, England, located approximately four miles east of Sevenoaks and six miles north of Tonbridge. The parish includes the hamlet of Ivy Hatch.
Ightham is famous for the nearby medieval manor of Ightham Mote ( Natio ...
,
Kent
Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...
and flows in a generally south easterly direction through the parishes of
Borough Green
Borough Green is situated in the borough of Tonbridge and Malling in Kent, England. The central area is situated on the A25 road between Maidstone and Sevenoaks, with the M26 motorway running through the centre dividing Wrotham and Borough Green. ...
,
Platt,
Plaxtol
Plaxtol is a village and civil parish in the borough of Tonbridge and Malling in Kent, England. The village is located around north of Tonbridge and the same distance east of Sevenoaks. In the 2011 Census, the parish had a population of 1,117.
...
,
West Peckham
West Peckham is a village and civil parish in the borough of Tonbridge and Malling in Kent, England. The River Bourne flows through the extreme west of the parish, and formerly powered a paper mill ( Hamptons Mill) and corn mill ( Oxenhoath Mill) ...
,
Hadlow
Hadlow is a village in the borough of Tonbridge and Malling in Kent, England. It is situated in the Medway valley, north-east of Tonbridge and south-west of Maidstone.
The Saxon name for the settlement was Haeselholte (in the Textus Roffens ...
, and
East Peckham
East Peckham is a village and civil parish in Kent, England on the River Medway. The parish covers the main village as well as Hale Street and Beltring.
History
The Domesday entry for East and West Peckham reads:-
:'' The Archbishop himself ...
where it joins the
River Medway
The River Medway is a river in South East England. It rises in the High Weald AONB, High Weald, East Sussex and flows through Tonbridge, Maidstone and the Medway conurbation in Kent, before emptying into the Thames Estuary near Sheerness, a to ...
. In the 18th century the river was known as the Busty or Buster, the Shode or Sheet, but is not known by these names nowadays. A ''
bourne
Bourne may refer to:
Places UK
* Bourne, Lincolnshire, a town
** Bourne Abbey
** Bourne railway station
* Bourne (electoral division), West Sussex
* Bourne SSSI, Avon, a Site of Special Scientific Interest near Burrington, North Somerset
* Bourne ...
'' is a type of stream, while ''shode'' means a branch of a river.
Geography
![Ightham3683](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a5/Ightham3683.JPG)
Several springs feed into the headwaters of the River Bourne and there are three contenders for its actual main source. It could be a spring on the
North Downs
The North Downs are a ridge of chalk hills in south east England that stretch from Farnham in Surrey to the White Cliffs of Dover in Kent. Much of the North Downs comprises two Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONBs): the Surrey Hills and ...
at New House Farm,
Yaldham, though the
Environment Agency
The Environment Agency (EA) is a non-departmental public body, established in 1996 and sponsored by the United Kingdom government's Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with responsibilities relating to the protection and enha ...
prefers a spring to the west of
Oldbury Hill. It could be a spring on Oldbury Hill which feeds the Waterflash, a tree-ringed pond, which drains to the north of the hill. Oldbury Hill is on the
Greensand Ridge
The Greensand Ridge, also known as the Wealden Greensand is an extensive, prominent, often wooded, mixed greensand/sandstone escarpment in south-east England. Forming part of the Weald, a former dense forest in Sussex, Surrey and Kent, it runs ...
. These merge in Ightham where the Bourne has cut a deep gorge through the limestone. In 1891
ice age
An ice age is a long period of reduction in the temperature of Earth's surface and atmosphere, resulting in the presence or expansion of continental and polar ice sheets and alpine glaciers. Earth's climate alternates between ice ages and gree ...
relicts were found near here in a quarry. The river passes through woods to Basted, where a mill pond gives clues to its industrial past. From Ightham through
Hadlow
Hadlow is a village in the borough of Tonbridge and Malling in Kent, England. It is situated in the Medway valley, north-east of Tonbridge and south-west of Maidstone.
The Saxon name for the settlement was Haeselholte (in the Textus Roffens ...
to
Golden Green
Golden Green is a village in the Medway valley near Tonbridge, Kent. It is 1 mile (1.6 km) from the larger village of Hadlow (of which it is part of the civil parish) and from the town of Tonbridge.
Location
Golden Green has a populat ...
, the river powered numerous
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 ...
s. Road names are full of mill references. The principal products were
flour
Flour is a powder made by grinding raw grains, roots, beans, nuts, or seeds. Flours are used to make many different foods. Cereal flour, particularly wheat flour, is the main ingredient of bread, which is a staple food for many culture ...
and
paper
Paper is a thin sheet material produced by mechanically or chemically processing cellulose fibres derived from wood, rags, grasses or other vegetable sources in water, draining the water through fine mesh leaving the fibre evenly distributed ...
. The area of the Medway Valley near East Peckham is prone to flooding and the River Bourne contributes much water, so is regularly monitored and dredged to ensure an uninterrupted water flow. There is a gauging station at Hadlow
TQ 632 497).
[East Peckham Flood Group]
Watermills
The River Bourne was used to power a number of watermills
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 its length. In order from source these were: Old Mill, Borough Green (corn?); Basted Mill (Platt parish) (paper); Lower Basted Mill, Plaxtol (corn?); Winfield Mill, (corn); Longmill (corn); Roughway Paper Mill; Hamptons Paper Mill (West Peckham parish); Oxonhoath Mill (corn); Bourne Mill (corn), Hadlow; Goldhill Mill (corn), Golden Green; Pierce Mill (corn); and finally Little Mill (corn), East Peckham.
Old Mill, Borough Green
TQ 606 565
Little is known of it except that the millpond was about long and wide at the mill, giving an area of up to . The head
A head is the part of an organism which usually includes the ears, brain, forehead, cheeks, chin, eyes, nose, and mouth, each of which aid in various sensory functions such as sight, hearing, smell, and taste. Some very simple animals may ...
was about .[.]
Basted Paper Mill, Platt
TQ 607 557
This paper mill
A paper mill is a factory devoted to making paper from vegetable fibres such as wood pulp, old rags, and other ingredients. Prior to the invention and adoption of the Fourdrinier machine and other types of paper machine that use an endless belt, ...
was marked on Hasted's map and known to be in operation in 1716. It may be the paper mill at Wrotham which William Quelch was working in the period 1723–31.[Mills Archive]
The mill pond
A mill pond (or millpond) is a body of water used as a reservoir for a water-powered mill.
Description
Mill ponds were often created through the construction of a mill dam or weir (and mill stream) across a waterway.
In many places, the com ...
was long and wide at the mill, giving an area of . George How Green was the occupier of the mill in 1835 when he leased Hamptons Paper Mill. The mill burnt down in 1917 and was rebuilt and worked by steam power
A steam engine is a heat engine that performs mechanical work using steam as its working fluid. The steam engine uses the force produced by steam pressure to push a piston back and forth inside a cylinder. This pushing force can be trans ...
until 1960. It finally closed after damage suffered in the floods of September 1968. The mill supplied paper used for postage stamp
A postage stamp is a small piece of paper issued by a post office, postal administration, or other authorized vendors to customers who pay postage (the cost involved in moving, insuring, or registering mail), who then affix the stamp to the fa ...
s. Although often referred to as being in Borough Green, the mill site actually stands within the parish of Platt.
Lower Basted (Johns) Mill, Plaxtol
TQ 605 554
This mill was about downstream of the Basted Paper Mill. This mill was marked as John's Mill on an 1825 map. The only other evidence for the mill was two fields on the Wrotham tithe map, 1840 named "Mill meadow and orchard" and "Mill meadow and old road" in the ownership of H A Wildes and the occupation of John Benge.[Hadlow Parish site]
accessed 21 November 2007
Winfield Mill, Plaxtol
TQ 607 551
Winfield mill was a 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 ...
built of ragstone
Rag-stone is a name given by some architectural writers to work done with stones that are quarried in thin pieces, such as Horsham Stone, sandstone, Yorkshire stone, and the slate stones, but this is more properly flag or slab work. Near London, ...
in 1836 by Eliza Carter. Millers include James Full, who died 18 March 1871 aged 66, and was buried in Plaxtol churchyard. The mill was still standing in 1940, but by 1950 it was a ruin. The Upright Shaft was of wood and the Great Spur Wheel was of compass arm construction, as shown on a photograph of 1955. The overshot waterwheel
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 buckets ...
was in diameter and wide, housed internally in the mill, and was constructed in 1874 by Messrs. Weeks of Maidstone
Maidstone is the largest Town status in the United Kingdom, town in Kent, England, of which it is the county town. Maidstone is historically important and lies 32 miles (51 km) east-south-east of London. The River Medway runs through the c ...
. Some stones still remain at the site.
An earlier mill on this site was known as "Windfield Mille" in 1699 and was then in the occupation of John Dutnell; it was previously in the occupation of Thomas Farrett.[Kent Archaeology]
/ref>
Longmill, Plaxtol
TQ 614 536
A long-lost corn mill site, commemorated today by Longmill Lane.
Roughway Paper Mill, Plaxtol
TQ 615 528
This mill was built c.1807 and was powered by steam and water. The mills were worked by Messrs, Turner & Co from at least 1862 to post 1882 and produced paper which Messrs. De La Rue used for printing colonial postage stamps. Latterly a diameter by wide breastshot waterwheel was used to drive bellows for the steam engine. There was a tall chimney which was a local landmark but this was demolished in 1997 after a fire.[
]
Hamptons Paper Mill, West Peckham
TQ 617 521
This paper mill was built in 1740 by Thomas West, carpenter, of West Peckham
West Peckham is a village and civil parish in the borough of Tonbridge and Malling in Kent, England. The River Bourne flows through the extreme west of the parish, and formerly powered a paper mill ( Hamptons Mill) and corn mill ( Oxenhoath Mill) ...
for William Burtenshaw, papermaker, of Wrotham for £175 and was active until the 1880s. When built it was long and wide. In 1759 the mill was leased by Isabella and William Dalyson to Mrs Elizabeth Buttonshaw for 21 years at £45 per annum. Previous occupiers of the mill were William Steddolph and Thomas Dalison. John Buttonshaw died on 12 February 1827 and the lease then passed to Elizabeth Buttonshaw. In 1835 John Buttanshaw surrendered his lease on the mill to Maximilian Dudley Digges Dalison. George How Green leasing the mill from 1833 at £100 per annum, and insuring the mill and building for a total of £1,500.
Only traces of the foundations remain. It probably had an overshot waterwheel, housed internally. A paper-making machine was sold from this mill in 1872 . The mill straddled the parish boundary of Shipbourne
Shipbourne ( ) is a village and civil parish situated between the towns of Sevenoaks and Tonbridge, in the borough of Tonbridge and Malling in the English county of Kent. In 2020 it was named as the most expensive village in Kent.
It is located i ...
and West Peckham. It was demolished c.1890. The mill cottages survive on the opposite side of the road to the mill site.[
]
Oxonhoath Mill, West Peckham
TQ 621 515
The site has been occupied since 1259. It may be the site of "Toyesmede mill" lying in the Hadlow boundary of the Lowy of Tonbridge
Tonbridge ( ) is a market town in Kent, England, on the River Medway, north of Royal Tunbridge Wells, south west of Maidstone and south east of London. In the administrative borough of Tonbridge and Malling, it had an estimated population ...
in c.1258. The mill has at various times been a fulling mill
Fulling, also known as felting, tucking or walking ( Scots: ''waukin'', hence often spelled waulking in Scottish English), is a step in woollen clothmaking which involves the cleansing of woven or knitted cloth (particularly wool) to elimin ...
and a corn mill. The mill was at one time owned by the Geary family and worked by William Young and his son Edward in the period 1847–75. Robert Blunden was the miller in 1882. The mill building was standing in 1930 although the machinery had been removed by then. It had a single storey brick base and three storeys built of timber on top. Only a part of the lower walls remain today.[
]
Bourne (Hope, Lambert's) Mill, Hadlow
TQ 627 503
This may be a Domesday
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 ...
site, Haslow (Hadlow) being assessed as having 2 mills. The mill still stands, and had a large external high breast shot waterwheel. The millpond was about by , or in area. Apart from the cast iron wheel axle and wooden upright shaft, The cast iron pit wheel survives. The crown wheel was of compass arm construction. The mill was working until 1947, millers in the latter days being John Thirsk (there in 1931) and Thomas Lambert before him. A Mr. Carr took over the mill in 1947 and established a small clothing factory, still trading today as Carr & Westley Ltd. The mill was also known as Hope Mill, being part of Hope Farm.[
]
Goldhill (Bourneside, Victoria) Mill, Golden Green
TQ 636 484
![Goldhill Mill2](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9f/Goldhill_Mill2.jpg)
Golden Green
Golden Green is a village in the Medway valley near Tonbridge, Kent. It is 1 mile (1.6 km) from the larger village of Hadlow (of which it is part of the civil parish) and from the town of Tonbridge.
Location
Golden Green has a populat ...
is a hamlet within Hadlow parish. A mill may have been on this site since Domesday. This Grade II
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 ...
listed mill is the only mill on the Bourne to retain most of its milling machinery. The internal waterwheel is of iron, and is breast shot. It is diameter and wide. on a cast iron axle. The pit wheel is diameter and has 120 cogs, driving a diameter wallower with 35 teeth on a diameter wooden upright shaft. The Great Spur Wheel is diameter and has 92 cogs. The date 1848 is on a plinth at the bottom of the Upright shaft, and may indicate the date of the existing waterwheel and machinery. The crown wheel was used latterly to drive the electricity generator, with one of the stone nuts being adapted as the driven gear. The mill had two pairs of millstones and last ground corn c.1920. The sack hoist does not survive. In the early-mid 20th century, the mill was used to generate electricity, but the apparatus has now been removed. The mill was also known as Bourneside Mill and Victoria Mill (Victoria Road is downstream of the mill). The outbuildings around the mill have been converted into holiday cottages.[Goldhill Cottages]
/ref>
Pierce Mill, Golden Green
TQ 646 484
approx
Little is known of this mill, but it is commemorated today by Pierce Mill Lane. The mill was named after the millers, the Pierce family.
Little Mill, East Peckham
TQ 657 482
![EastPeckhamLittleMill3484](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d9/EastPeckhamLittleMill3484.JPG)
This mill still stands, part of the building now being house converted, part demolished. The waterwheel was breastshot.[
]
Tributaries
A tributary of the Bourne rises in the Hildenborough
Hildenborough is a village and rural parish in the borough of Tonbridge and Malling in Kent, England. It is located 2 miles (3.2 km) north-west of Tonbridge and 5 miles (8 km) south-east of Sevenoaks. The village lies in the River Med ...
parish and flows through Shipbourne
Shipbourne ( ) is a village and civil parish situated between the towns of Sevenoaks and Tonbridge, in the borough of Tonbridge and Malling in the English county of Kent. In 2020 it was named as the most expensive village in Kent.
It is located i ...
where it powered a watermill, Uridge's Mill, Shipbourne (corn) and a pump at Claygate before flowing into the Bourne downstream of Hamptons Paper Mill.
A tributary of this tributary drove a water powered sawmill at Fairlawne Home Farm, Shipbourne.
A tributary enters the Bourne at Basted Paper Mills. It may have powered a watermill in Crouch (Platt parish).
Mills on the tributaries
Uridge's Mill, Shipbourne
This mill was named after the miller, Robert Uridge, who worked the mill for sixteen years during the 1870s and 1880s. The exact location is not known. The mill may have gone by the name Puttenden Mill, but this could also have been Hamptons Paper Mill.[Kent & Sussex Courier, 20 February 1981, p2.]
Claygate pump, Shipbourne
TQ 605 517
approx
This was a breast shot wheel driving a pump again the exact location is not known.[MillArchive.com]
Fairlawne Saw Mill, Plaxtol
An estate saw mill, driven by a breast shot mill was located at Fairlawne Home Farm.[
]
Crouch Mill, Platt
There may have been a watermill at Salmons Farm, Crouch. The only reference to it being the Wrotham Tithe Award of 1845 noting a hop garden of and 35 perches "adjoining mill."[
]
Wildlife
Chubb can be seen in the river at Little Mill, and Crayfish
Crayfish are freshwater crustaceans belonging to the clade Astacidea, which also contains lobsters. In some locations, they are also known as crawfish, craydids, crawdaddies, crawdads, freshwater lobsters, mountain lobsters, rock lobsters, mu ...
can be found at Ightham. Brown trout
The brown trout (''Salmo trutta'') is a European species of salmonid fish that has been widely introduced into suitable environments globally. It includes purely freshwater populations, referred to as the riverine ecotype, ''Salmo trutta'' morph ...
can be seen at Goldhill Mill, Golden Green.[Crayfish Traps]
/ref>
Navigation
The Bourne was navigable from The Medway, by canoe, summer 2014, in open water, for 200 m until clogged by vegetation under the 1st footpath bridge; 500 m before the 'Man of Kent' pub, East Peckham.
The river was reported navigable to the pub in winter (2012); 'the last 100 yards rocky and difficult'.[songofthepaddle.co.uk]
/ref>
The lack of mills for the 800 m below Little Mill (now 'Man of Kent') may indicate that loads could once be carried to the Tonbridge Road at East Peckham. A large tannery, using the Bourne's water at Little Mill, is shown in the 1891 OS map. The river by the tannery, before the road bridge, is shown with a cut-out suited to mooring.
Footpaths
The River Bourne is crossed by the Greensand Way
The Greensand Way is a long-distance path of in southeast England, from Haslemere in Surrey to Hamstreet in Kent. It follows the Greensand Ridge along the Surrey Hills and Chart Hills. The route is mostly rural, passing through woods, and al ...
long-distance path at Dunk's Green and the Wealdway
The Wealdway, Kent and East Sussex, is a public footpath that runs for 83 miles / 134 km from Gravesend, Kent on the Thames estuary, to the A259 at Eastbourne, 3 km north of Beachy Head.The Wealdway 80 miles long distance footpath, 1981, pu ...
long-distance path at Barnes Street
Barnes Street is located on the River Medway to the east of Tonbridge in Kent, England. It is part of the hamlet of Golden Green and in the civil parish of Hadlow
Hadlow is a village in the borough of Tonbridge and Malling in Kent, England ...
. The Medway Valley Walk
The Medway Valley Walk follows the River Medway from Rochester, Kent, Rochester to Tonbridge. Above Allington, Kent, Allington, it follows the bank of the Medway Navigation. It starts on the Saxon Shore Way at Rochester. The North Downs Way cr ...
at Waggon Bridge, East Peckham
East Peckham is a village and civil parish in Kent, England on the River Medway. The parish covers the main village as well as Hale Street and Beltring.
History
The Domesday entry for East and West Peckham reads:-
:'' The Archbishop himself ...
marks the spot where the Bourne enters the Medway. Hadlow Parish Council have plotted a walk along the Bourne, from Ightham
Ightham ( ) is a village in Kent, England, located approximately four miles east of Sevenoaks and six miles north of Tonbridge. The parish includes the hamlet of Ivy Hatch.
Ightham is famous for the nearby medieval manor of Ightham Mote ( Natio ...
to the Medway.
The Ancient track, Pilgrims' Way
The Pilgrims' Way (also Pilgrim's Way or Pilgrims Way) is the historical route supposedly taken by pilgrims from Winchester, Hampshire, Winchester in Hampshire, England, to the shrine of Thomas Becket at Canterbury in Kent. This name, of compa ...
passes through Yaldham. The Roman military route from Maidstone to London crosses the Bourne at Ightham.[
]
References
See also
* Medway watermills
The Medway and its tributaries and sub-tributaries have been used for over 1,150 years as a source of power. There are over two hundred sites where the use of water power is known.
These uses included corn milling, fulling, paper making, iron sm ...
article
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bourne, River
Rivers of Kent
Tonbridge and Malling
Watermills in Kent
1Bourne