The Wateringbury stream is a tributary of 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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

. It rises at Swanton,

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) ...

parish, flows south east towards

Mereworth Mereworth is a village and civil parish near the town of Maidstone in Kent, England. The Wateringbury Stream flows through the village and powered a watermill, the site of which now lies within the grounds of Mereworth Castle. Mereworth is pronou ...

and then flows in a generally easterly direction to join the

Wateringbury Wateringbury is a village and civil parish near the town of Maidstone in Kent, England. The Wateringbury Stream flows into the River Medway just above Bow Bridge. It formerly powered three watermills in the village, one of which survives. The ...

. It is some four miles (6 km) long and powered 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 ...

Watermills

Mereworth Mill.

TQ 673 535 The Domesday Book records two mills, value 10/-, at Marovrde (Mereworth). The site of the last mill now lies in the private grounds of

Mereworth Castle Mereworth Castle is a grade I listed Neo-Palladian country house in Mereworth, Kent, England. This source attributes the plasterwork to Francesco Bagutti, but Giovanni Bagutti would appear to be more likely. History Originally the site of ...

. In 1460, it was held by Thomas Hunte. In 1521 it was a

fulling 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 ...

mill, belonging to Sir Thomas Nevyle. In 1772 James Pound was the occupant, followed by his widow in March 1780 and John Pound in September 1780. He was at the mill until October 1791. Thomas Edmead was at the mill from 1792 to 1827. The mill was purchased by Viscount Falmouth c.1856. The mill was demolished by 1907 and the site is today marked by a waterfall at the eastern end of the lakes in the grounds of Mereworth Castle. The head would have been some or , suggesting a high breast shot or 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 ...

Mill at Wateringbury

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 ...

records three mills at Otringeberge (Wateringbury). Two mills were held by Ralf, son of Turald and valued at 3/-, a third was held by Hugh de Braibourne and worth 16d. This mill was marked on C & G Greenwood's map of Kent, 1822. It was not mentioned in a survey of the parish carried out in 1828.

Brattle (Upper) Mill, Wateringbury

TQ 686 534

Brattle 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 ...

. It was named after a miller, Robert Brattle. It was first mentioned in 1783 and was owned by Robert Brattle. In 1838 the mill was owned by Harry Blaker and occupied by William Mills. Harry Blaker died c.1848 and the mill was run for a short time by his widow, Sarah. James Fremlin took over the lease of the mill by 1851, also running Warden Mill. He purchased the mill from Sarah Blaker c.1868. The miller at this time being Alfred Bloorman. The original overshot waterwheel was of wood. It was replaced by a

turbine A turbine ( or ) (from the Greek , ''tyrbē'', or Latin ''turbo'', meaning vortex) is a rotary mechanical device that extracts energy from a fluid flow and converts it into useful work. The work produced by a turbine can be used for generating e ...

c.1910 and it was about this time the mill was last used for milling, then being used to generate electricity. Brattle Mill was sometimes known as Upper Mill. A diameter by wide cast iron overshot waterwheel from Lower Mill,

Polegate Polegate is a town and civil parish in the Wealden District of East Sussex, England, United Kingdom.OS Explorer map Eastbourne and Beachy Head Scale: 1:25 000. Publisher:Ordnance Survey – Southampton B2 edition. Publishing Date:2009. It ...

, Sussex, was reconstructed at the mill in the early 1980s and the owner intended to reconstruct the machinery to return the building to a working mill. The mill originally worked three pairs of millstones.

Warden Mill, Wateringbury

TQ 690 532 Warden Mill was a corn mill that took its name from the farm to which it belonged, Warden Farm. The first reference to this mill was in November 1822, when John Savage of Cobham leased the mill from John Selby of Marden and John Fellow of

Eynsford Eynsford ( or ) is a village and civil parish in the Sevenoaks District of Kent, England. It is located south east of Swanley, south of Dartford. The village including its farmland and woods occupies the northern half of the triangle formed b ...

. In October 1829 James Fremlin took over the lease. Selby and Fellow(s) held the freehold of the mill until October 1838. In 1839 the area of the mill pond was given as ¾

acre The acre is a unit of land area used in the imperial Imperial is that which relates to an empire, emperor, or imperialism. Imperial or The Imperial may also refer to: Places United States * Imperial, California * Imperial, Missouri * Imp ...

. Charles Whittaker was the owner of the mill in 1842 and by April 1845 Whittaker and Fremlin were joint owners, but by November 1847 the mill had passed back to John Selby. James Fremlin purchased a moiety of the property in October 1871. He purchased the other share in the property in December 1876. Richard Clemetson took over the mill between 1878 and 1887, followed by William James Hawes sometime between 1890 and 1895. The mill last worked in 1913 and was demolished c.1914. The head of water was some . It is thought that this mill had a breast shot waterwheel.

Possible water power site

A site close to the source of the Wateringbury Stream shows some characteristic signs of previous use of waterpower.

Swanton, Mereworth

TQ 646 539 A large pond high in the Swanton valley may indicate the site of an old furnace mill. The head available being sufficient to power a large overshot waterwheel.

Holy Well

TQ 676 532 The Wateringbury Stream flows past a group of cottages in Pizien Well Road, Wateringbury. It is sometimes said that the name Pizien may be a corruption of 'poison', however it could also have its origins in the French language because in French entomology, 'piz' means breast and 'ien' means 'from' hence 'from the breast'. This latter explanation could tie up with local superstition that says a bride would drink the water from the well to ensure fertility - perhaps a belief that a bride would be drinking from the breast of the earth, originating from Norman times.

Ford

A track crosses the Wateringbury Stream by means of a

ford Ford commonly refers to: * Ford Motor Company, an automobile manufacturer founded by Henry Ford * Ford (crossing), a shallow crossing on a river Ford may also refer to: Ford Motor Company * Henry Ford, founder of the Ford Motor Company * Ford F ...

at TQ 680 531. Wetroads
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