Scarrow Beck is a minor
watercourse
A stream is a continuous body of surface water flowing within the bed and banks of a channel. Depending on its location or certain characteristics, a stream may be referred to by a variety of local or regional names. Long large streams are ...
which rises in the north of the
English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
county of
Norfolk
Norfolk () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in East Anglia in England. It borders Lincolnshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the west and south-west, and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the No ...
. It is a
tributary
A tributary, or affluent, is a stream or river that flows into a larger stream or main stem (or parent) river or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean. Tributaries and the main stem river drain the surrounding drainage ...
of the
River Bure
The River Bure is a river in the county of Norfolk, England, most of it in the Broads.Ordnance Survey (2005). ''OS Explorer Map OL40 - The Broads''. . The Bure rises near Melton Constable, upstream of Aylsham, which was the original head of ...
. Its
spring
Spring(s) may refer to:
Common uses
* Spring (season), a season of the year
* Spring (device), a mechanical device that stores energy
* Spring (hydrology), a natural source of water
* Spring (mathematics), a geometric surface in the shape of a ...
is in the
North Norfolk
North Norfolk is a local government district in Norfolk, England. Its council is based in Cromer. The population at the 2011 Census was 101,149.
History
The district was formed on 1 April 1974, under the Local Government Act 1972. It was a ...
village of
Aylmerton
Aylmerton is a village in the county of Norfolk, England. It is in the area of North Norfolk and lies south of the North Sea, south-west of Cromer and east of Holt. The parish is bordered by the parishes of Beeston Regis and Runton to t ...
west of the main street. It eventually merges, after with the
River Bure
The River Bure is a river in the county of Norfolk, England, most of it in the Broads.Ordnance Survey (2005). ''OS Explorer Map OL40 - The Broads''. . The Bure rises near Melton Constable, upstream of Aylsham, which was the original head of ...
at
Ingworth
Ingworth is a village and a civil parish in the English county of Norfolk. It is north of Aylsham, north of Norwich, east of North Walsham and south-southwest of Cromer. The nearest railway station is at North Walsham, which is located on the ...
just north of the
Blickling Hall
Blickling Hall is a Jacobean architecture, Jacobean stately home situated in 5,000 acres of parkland in a loop of the River Bure, near the village of Blickling north of Aylsham in Norfolk, England, Norfolk, England. The mansion was built on the ...
estate. There are two
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 ...
[ on the beck, both of which are no longer in working order. A third windmill at Gresham]
stands on Gur Beck, a small tributary of Scarrow Beck.
The source
The spring
Spring(s) may refer to:
Common uses
* Spring (season), a season of the year
* Spring (device), a mechanical device that stores energy
* Spring (hydrology), a natural source of water
* Spring (mathematics), a geometric surface in the shape of a ...
of Scarrow Beck is in a small area of marsh
A marsh is a wetland that is dominated by herbaceous rather than woody plant species.Keddy, P.A. 2010. Wetland Ecology: Principles and Conservation (2nd edition). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. 497 p Marshes can often be found at ...
y ground in fields south of Aylmerton parish church close to Church Lane. The beck flows east, south, east through a man-made ditch across open fields towards the national trust
The National Trust, formally the National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty, is a charity and membership organisation for heritage conservation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. In Scotland, there is a separate and ...
estate of Felbrigg Hall
Felbrigg Hall is a 17th-century English country house near the village of that name in Norfolk. Part of a National Trust property, the unaltered 17th-century house is noted for its Jacobean architecture and fine Georgian interior. Outside i ...
. At the Boundary of the estate it enters a culvert
A culvert is a structure that channels water past an obstacle or to a subterranean waterway. Typically embedded so as to be surrounded by soil, a culvert may be made from a pipe, reinforced concrete or other material. In the United Kingdom ...
under a lane and turns south, south, east. During the middle part of the 18th century the beck was dammed to form Felbrigg pond which was part of the landscape plans of the Estate. It is reputed but not confirmed that the forming of the pond may have been the early work of Humphry Repton
Humphry Repton (21 April 1752 – 24 March 1818) was the last great English landscape designer of the eighteenth century, often regarded as the successor to Capability Brown; he also sowed the seeds of the more intricate and eclectic styles of ...
, who, in 1778, lived close to the estate in Old Hall, Sustead. From the pond the beck flows on out of the estate and towards the village of Metton passing along the northern boundary of the water works in the village. Here it turns to the south crossing under the lane on the western outskirts of the village. Once again the beck has been ditched by man and crosses arable farm land. It is here that a tributary
A tributary, or affluent, is a stream or river that flows into a larger stream or main stem (or parent) river or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean. Tributaries and the main stem river drain the surrounding drainage ...
joins the beck from Gresham called Gur Beck. 200 meters from the merger the beck flows through Big Fen Plantation
A plantation is an agricultural estate, generally centered on a plantation house, meant for farming that specializes in cash crops, usually mainly planted with a single crop, with perhaps ancillary areas for vegetables for eating and so on. The ...
before reappearing on Hanworth
Hanworth is a district of West London, England. Historically in Middlesex, it has been part of the London Borough of Hounslow since 1965. Hanworth adjoins Feltham to the northwest, Twickenham to the northeast and Hampton to the southeast, with S ...
Common. The Beck now flows around the western edge of the Common and is greatly supplemented by several small ditch
A ditch is a small to moderate divot created to channel water. A ditch can be used for drainage, to drain water from low-lying areas, alongside roadways or fields, or to channel water from a more distant source for plant irrigation. Ditches ar ...
es, pond
A pond is an area filled with water, either natural or artificial, that is smaller than a lake. Defining them to be less than in area, less than deep, and with less than 30% emergent vegetation helps in distinguishing their ecology from th ...
s and areas of marshy springs. After passing under Ringsbank Lane the beck skirts some woodland before supplying several large boomerang
A boomerang () is a thrown tool, typically constructed with aerofoil sections and designed to spin about an axis perpendicular to the direction of its flight. A returning boomerang is designed to return to the thrower, while a non-returning b ...
shaped ponds in Thurgarton woods. The next village is Aldborough and it is here, south of the village, that Scarrow Beck was the supply for the first of the two watermills on the beck.
Aldborough watermill
There has been 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 ...
l at Aldborough at the buildings present location since before 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 ...
although the present building, now a private dwelling, was built around 150 years ago. The 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 removed around 1930 and replaced with a diesel engine. In 1950, the Millpond
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 ...
that was fed by Scarrow Beck was bulldozed
A bulldozer or dozer (also called a crawler) is a large, motorized machine equipped with a metal blade to the front for pushing material: soil, sand, snow, rubble, or rock during construction work. It travels most commonly on continuous tracks, ...
in and the beck was diverted away from the mill buildings. Today, there is no trace of the millrace
A mill race, millrace or millrun, mill lade (Scotland) or mill leat (Southwest England) is the current of water that turns a water wheel, or the channel (sluice) conducting water to or from a water wheel. Compared with the broad waters of a mi ...
or the old watercourse
A stream is a continuous body of surface water flowing within the bed and banks of a channel. Depending on its location or certain characteristics, a stream may be referred to by a variety of local or regional names. Long large streams are ...
of Scarrow beck.
Erpingham watermill
Erpingham watermill was demolished in 1965 and stood in a meadow on the eastern bank of Scarrow bank between the villages of Calthorpe and Erpingham
Erpingham is a village and civil parish in the English county of Norfolk. Its area of had a population of 541 in 210 households at the United Kingdom Census 2001, 2001 Census. Including Ingworth it increased to 700 at the 2011 Census.
Governanc ...
. This watermill was recorded as the smallest watermill in the county of Norfolk and was not very efficient due to the lack of water supply from the Scarrow Beck. The mill relied for its water power on a hand dug watercourse from the near-by beck which remnants can still be found in the meadow. The mill itself was a timber structure constructed upon foundation and ground floor of brickwork construction. The upper floor of the mill was clad in shiplap
Shiplap is a type of wooden board used commonly as exterior siding in the construction of residences, barns, sheds, and outbuildings.
Exterior walls
Shiplap is either rough-sawn or milled pine or similarly inexpensive wood between wide with a ...
weatherboarding. The roof was constructed using traditional Norfolk red pantile
A pantile is a type of fired roof tile, normally made from clay. It is S-shaped in profile and is single lap, meaning that the end of the tile laps only the course immediately below. Flat tiles normally lap two courses.
A pantile-covered roo ...
. At one time there was also a Smock windmill on the site but this was also demolished sometime in the 1890s. The two mills were owned by the Johnson family until they were sold at the turn of the 19th century when the site was purchased by a Mr Witham.
File:Felbrigg Pond 29 July 2014.JPG, The lake on the Felbrigg estate formed when the Scarrow Beck was barraged.
File:Scarrow Beck at Sustead 23rd October 2007 (2).JPG, The beck north of the Felbrigg Estate near the village of Sustead.
Image:Aldborough Watermill.JPG, Aldborough 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 ...
today, now a private house
References
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Scarrow Beck
Scarrow Beck is a minor watercourse which rises in the north of the English county of Norfolk. It is a tributary of the River Bure. Its spring is in the North Norfolk village of Aylmerton west of the main street. It eventually merges, after wi ...