Nash Mills is a

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authorit ...

within

Hemel Hempstead Hemel Hempstead () is a town in the Dacorum district in Hertfordshire, England, northwest of London, which is part of the Greater London Urban Area. The population at the 2011 census was 97,500. Developed after the Second World War as a new ...

and

Dacorum The Borough of Dacorum is a local government district in Hertfordshire, England that includes the towns of Hemel Hempstead, Berkhamsted, Tring and Kings Langley. The district, which was formed in 1974, had a population of 137,799 in 2001. I ...

Borough Council on the northern side of the

Grand Union Canal The Grand Union Canal in England is part of the British canal system. It is the principal navigable waterway between London and the Midlands. Starting in London, one arm runs to Leicester and another ends in Birmingham, with the latter ...

, formerly the

River Gade The River Gade is a river running almost entirely through Hertfordshire. It rises from a spring in the chalk of the Chiltern Hills at Dagnall, Buckinghamshire and flows through Hemel Hempstead, Kings Langley, then along the west side of Watfo ...

, and in the southernmost corner of Hemel Hempstead. There is evidence of a mill in this location since the 11th century and the row of 16th century mill cottages still remain.

John Dickinson John Dickinson (November 13 Julian_calendar">/nowiki>Julian_calendar_November_2.html" ;"title="Julian_calendar.html" ;"title="/nowiki>Julian calendar">/nowiki>Julian calendar November 2">Julian_calendar.html" ;"title="/nowiki>Julian calendar" ...

established a number of papermaking mills in the area in the 19th century (

Nash Mill Nash Mill was a paper mill in Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire, United Kingdom. The local residential area (Nash Mills) takes its name from the mill. Early records There was originally a corn-mill recorded in the Domesday Book. This belonged in ...

). The parish of Nash Mills was created in 1974 from that part of the parish of

Abbots Langley Abbots Langley is a large village and civil parish in the English county of Hertfordshire. It is an old settlement and is mentioned (under the name of Langelai) in the Domesday Book. Economically the village is closely linked to Watford and w ...

within the designated area of Hemel Hempstead New Town. The parish was enlarged in 1985. The borough council ward extends beyond the parish boundary.

The Mill

A corn-mill in the area was recorded 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 ...

in the 11th century; it subsequently belonged, in the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...

, to the Abbey of St Albans. The mill had been converted to

papermaking Papermaking is the manufacture of paper and cardboard, which are used widely for printing, writing, and packaging, among many other purposes. Today almost all paper is made using industrial machinery, while handmade paper survives as a speciali ...

in the late 18th century and subsequently purchased in 1811 by

and George Longman Nash Mill was renowned for its production of tough thin paper for Samuel Bagster's "Pocket Reference Bible". A major fire in 1813 was a setback, but the insurance enabled redevelopment for large scale production. After an experiment in 1887, fine rag paper was produced on electrically driven machines: a successful innovation at Nash Mill. In 1989, Nash Mill was sold to the international

Sappi Sappi Limited, originally incorporated as ''South African Pulp and Paper Industries Limited'' in 1936, is a South African pulp and paper company with global operations. Products and operation South African Pulp and Paper Industries Limite ...

Group and continued to make paper until 2006, when it was closed down and sold. Redevelopment plans for housing were publicised in September 2007. By late 2010, the Mill site had been largely cleared, leaving the mill house, Stephenson's Cottage and the war memorial.

Local history

John Dickinson had Nash Mills School built in 1847.

Governance

The Nash Mills area was part of the parish of

until 1974. This northern section of Abbots Langley parish was included within the designated area of

New Town in 1947. Under the

Local Government Act 1972 The Local Government Act 1972 (c. 70) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that reformed local government in England and Wales on 1 April 1974. It was one of the most significant Acts of Parliament to be passed by the Heath Gov ...

the parish of Abbots Langley was split, with the part within Hemel Hempstead New Town becoming the parish of Nash Mills in the new district of Dacorum, and the rest of Abbots Langley parish becoming part of the new district of Three Rivers. A shadow parish council for Nash Mills was elected in 1973 ahead of the boundary changes coming into effect on 1 April 1974. Nash Mills parish was enlarged on 1 April 1985, gaining an area along the River Gade and Grand Union Canal from Abbots Langley parish.The Dacorum and Three Rivers (Areas) Order 1985

Notable residents

Arthur Evans Sir Arthur John Evans (8 July 1851 – 11 July 1941) was a British archaeologist and pioneer in the study of Aegean civilization in the Bronze Age. He is most famous for unearthing the palace of Knossos on the Greek island of Crete. Based on ...

, the archaeologist and excavator of

Knossos Knossos (also Cnossos, both pronounced ; grc, Κνωσός, Knōsós, ; Linear B: ''Ko-no-so'') is the largest Bronze Age archaeological site on Crete and has been called Europe's oldest city. Settled as early as the Neolithic period, the na ...

. *

Sir John Evans Sir John Evans (17 November 1823 – 31 May 1908) was an English archaeologist and geologist. Biography John Evans, son of the Rev. A. B. Evans, was born at Britwell Court, Buckinghamshire. At the age of seventeen he started to work for the p ...

, archaeologist, and father of Arthur Evans.

References

External links