Tide Mills, East Sussex: Difference between revisions
Extended confirmed users, Pending changes reviewers, Rollbackers 46,345 edits + short description |
Extended confirmed users 9,434 edits →History: gave detail as to why village was declared unfit for habitation |
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According to the census data from 1851, there were 60 men working at the mill, and most of them lived in cottages which Catt had built around the site. He also built a school to educate the children, and although the conditions were rather rudimentary, a thriving community developed. The workers appreciated the facilities provided for their families, at a time when such provision was not common. After the railway line from Newhaven to Seaford was opened, a siding was constructed, which ran between the cottages, enabling large quantities of flour to be transported to Newhaven, from where much of it was shipped to London by sea.{{sfn |Stidder |Smith |1997 |p=40}} |
According to the census data from 1851, there were 60 men working at the mill, and most of them lived in cottages which Catt had built around the site. He also built a school to educate the children, and although the conditions were rather rudimentary, a thriving community developed. The workers appreciated the facilities provided for their families, at a time when such provision was not common. After the railway line from Newhaven to Seaford was opened, a siding was constructed, which ran between the cottages, enabling large quantities of flour to be transported to Newhaven, from where much of it was shipped to London by sea.{{sfn |Stidder |Smith |1997 |p=40}} |
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The Mill closed in 1883 and was used as bonded warehouses until it was pulled down in 1901. In 1936 the Seaford council took action to declare part of Tide Mills, houses numbered 8 to 13, a clearance area within the meaning of the [[Housing Act 1930]]. The council seems to have been especially concerned about the alleged sanitary defects of these houses. Water came from a single standpipe shared by all six houses, general waste from the houses was removed and thrown into the sea, and each house had a small outside building containing an earth closet whose contents had to be emptied and carried to the sea. |
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⚫ | The order confirming the clearance was confirmed by Seaford council early in 1937, and the occupants of the houses were required to vacate them within nine months. The last residents were forcibly removed in 1939, the shingle beach being needed for defensive purposes during [[World War Two]].<ref>https://www.sussexlive.co.uk/news/history/lost-village-sussex-homes-werent-4400759</ref> <ref name="HamlynGroup2009">{{cite book|author1=Hamlyn|author2=Octopus Publishing Group|title=Top 10 of Britain|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=d8Lrn8fcsrMC&pg=PT29|access-date=16 February 2012|date=5 May 2009|publisher=Octopus|isbn=978-0-600-62251-2|page=29}}</ref> The area was in part cleared to give fields of fire and also used for street fighting training. The site was not used for target practice by [[Newhaven Fort]] Artillery, though this story is common locally. The area accommodated vast numbers of Canadian troops during the Second World War. |
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There are the remains of a station<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.sussexexpress.co.uk/ViewArticle2.aspx?SectionID=1436&ArticleID=1510774 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070311023124/http://www.sussexexpress.co.uk/ViewArticle2.aspx?SectionID=1436&ArticleID=1510774 |archive-date=11 March 2007 |title=The train now standing at Bishopstone Beach |publisher=Sussex Express}}</ref><ref>[http://www.subbrit.org.uk/sb-sites/stations/b/bishopstone_beach_halt/index.shtml Bishopstone Beach Halt station]</ref> on the Newhaven to Seaford line at {{gbmapping|TQ460003}}. It started life as either Bishopstone Station (the Victorian [[Ordnance Survey|OS]] map of 1874 shows it as this together with a short branch line to the mills)<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.old-maps.co.uk/#/Map/545946/100224/12/100315 |title=Ordnance Survey 1:2500 map |year=1874}}</ref> or Tide Mills Halt, but became [[Bishopstone Beach Halt railway station|Bishopstone Beach Halt]] in 1939 before its closure in 1942. This is different from today's [[Bishopstone railway station]] at {{gbmapping|TV469998}}. |
There are the remains of a station<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.sussexexpress.co.uk/ViewArticle2.aspx?SectionID=1436&ArticleID=1510774 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070311023124/http://www.sussexexpress.co.uk/ViewArticle2.aspx?SectionID=1436&ArticleID=1510774 |archive-date=11 March 2007 |title=The train now standing at Bishopstone Beach |publisher=Sussex Express}}</ref><ref>[http://www.subbrit.org.uk/sb-sites/stations/b/bishopstone_beach_halt/index.shtml Bishopstone Beach Halt station]</ref> on the Newhaven to Seaford line at {{gbmapping|TQ460003}}. It started life as either Bishopstone Station (the Victorian [[Ordnance Survey|OS]] map of 1874 shows it as this together with a short branch line to the mills)<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.old-maps.co.uk/#/Map/545946/100224/12/100315 |title=Ordnance Survey 1:2500 map |year=1874}}</ref> or Tide Mills Halt, but became [[Bishopstone Beach Halt railway station|Bishopstone Beach Halt]] in 1939 before its closure in 1942. This is different from today's [[Bishopstone railway station]] at {{gbmapping|TV469998}}. |
Revision as of 09:50, 16 August 2022
Tide Mills | |
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East Sussex | |
Ambulance | South East Coast |
UK Parliament | |
Tide Mills is a derelict village in
History
Thomas Barton bought the mill site, and embarked on a series of improvements to make the mill more efficient. He constructed a new three-storey mill building, to house 16 pairs of stones, with which he was able to produce 1,500 sacks (190 tonnes) of flour per week. Ownership changed as a series of partnerships were created and then dissolved. Barton was in partnership with Edmund Catt just prior to 1800, but the London Gazette in 1801 announced that the agreement was no longer in place. Catt then entered into an agreement with his cousin William Catt (1770–1853), but William dissolved this in 1807. William Catt was part of a family who had many farming and milling interests in Robertsbridge and Buxted, and was a keen businessman. He managed the mill well, and it became very profitable, despite the occasional storm damage, such as that in 1820 which damaged the mill building, and washed away some of the mill dam.[3]
According to the census data from 1851, there were 60 men working at the mill, and most of them lived in cottages which Catt had built around the site. He also built a school to educate the children, and although the conditions were rather rudimentary, a thriving community developed. The workers appreciated the facilities provided for their families, at a time when such provision was not common. After the railway line from Newhaven to Seaford was opened, a siding was constructed, which ran between the cottages, enabling large quantities of flour to be transported to Newhaven, from where much of it was shipped to London by sea.[4]
The Mill closed in 1883 and was used as bonded warehouses until it was pulled down in 1901. In 1936 the Seaford council took action to declare part of Tide Mills, houses numbered 8 to 13, a clearance area within the meaning of the Housing Act 1930. The council seems to have been especially concerned about the alleged sanitary defects of these houses. Water came from a single standpipe shared by all six houses, general waste from the houses was removed and thrown into the sea, and each house had a small outside building containing an earth closet whose contents had to be emptied and carried to the sea.
The order confirming the clearance was confirmed by Seaford council early in 1937, and the occupants of the houses were required to vacate them within nine months. The last residents were forcibly removed in 1939, the shingle beach being needed for defensive purposes during
There are the remains of a station[7][8] on the Newhaven to Seaford line at grid reference TQ460003. It started life as either Bishopstone Station (the Victorian OS map of 1874 shows it as this together with a short branch line to the mills)[9] or Tide Mills Halt, but became Bishopstone Beach Halt in 1939 before its closure in 1942. This is different from today's Bishopstone railway station at grid reference TV469998.
The
Mill complex
Old photographs and paintings, together with a poem, show that the Tide Mill complex included a windmill.[11]
Access
Access is via either Mill Drove, an insignificant single-track road that runs south-west from the Newhaven and Seaford roads at approximately the point where one changes into the other grid reference TQ463005 (very limited parking, and access is via a pedestrian railway crossing at Bishopstone Beach Halt); or along the beach to the east of Newhaven Harbour. Network Rail plans to build a new footbridge across the railway to replace the existing crossing.[12]
In popular culture
The Tide Mills features in the 2007 novel A Kind of Vanishing[13] by crime-writer Lesley Thomson. Two girls are playing hide-and-seek in the summer of 1968. Eleanor is hiding from Alice, who never comes looking for her. Alice disappears and more than thirty years later she is still missing. Much of the "action" takes place around the Tide Mills. The cover photograph for the UK edition published by Myriad Editions shows a shot of the Tide Mills.
It also features in a novel of 2018. Set in 1963-4 Change at Tide Mills [14] uses a version of the Mill and village that is still standing. In practice it was demolished in 1940. A family from London revitalises the Mill's fortunes and the main storylines use local landmarks and contemporary values. The Author also offers a talk using contemporary images to flesh out the actual site and surroundings.
The Tide Mills Project
In 2020, LYT Productions launched a community arts and heritage project exploring the history of Tide Mills.
See also
- Watermills in the United Kingdom
References
- ^ a b Stidder & Smith 1997, p. 39.
- ^ "Newhaven Local & Maritime Museum". Newhaven Historical Society. Archived from the original on 5 February 2008.
- ^ Stidder & Smith 1997, pp. 39–40.
- ^ Stidder & Smith 1997, p. 40.
- ^ https://www.sussexlive.co.uk/news/history/lost-village-sussex-homes-werent-4400759
- ISBN 978-0-600-62251-2. Retrieved 16 February 2012.
- ^ "The train now standing at Bishopstone Beach". Sussex Express. Archived from the original on 11 March 2007.
- ^ Bishopstone Beach Halt station
- ^ "Ordnance Survey 1:2500 map". 1874.
- ^ "Bishopstone Tidemills project". Sussex Archaeological Society. Archived from the original on 14 February 2012.
- ^ Source- plaques on the site for visitors
- ^ "Unique footbridge design set to provide safer access across the railway at South Downs National Park". Network Rail Media Centre. Retrieved 17 March 2021.
- ISBN 978-0-9549309-4-3.
- ISBN 9781706113409. Retrieved 12 March 2020.
- ^ "The Tide Mills Project - Bringing Tide Mills back to life". Retrieved 17 March 2021.
- ^ "Explore Tide Mills Online - The Tide Mills Project". Retrieved 17 March 2021.
- ^ "Heritage Celebration Week | 20th - 26th Sept 2021- The Tide Mills Project". Retrieved 17 March 2021.
Bibliography
- Stidder, Derek; Smith, Colin (1997). Watermills of Sussex. Vol. 1. Baron Birch. ISBN 978-0-86023-569-9.
External links
Media related to Tide Mills, East Sussex at Wikimedia Commons
- Friends of The Tidemills and Newhaven Eastside Conservation Group
- "Corn. Bishopsten (sic), Sussex. Tide mills. Petition of merchants for sanction to build tide mills for grinding corn". bopcris.ac.uk. Archived from the original on 27 September 2007.
- "Outreach Helps to Turn the Tide". Government News Network. Archived from the original on 10 March 2007.
- Saline Lagoons The pound for the tide mill as a wildlife habitat
- "Tidemills - a sustainable energy story". RiverOcean. Archived from the original on 13 March 2007.
- Abandoned Communities ..... Tide Mills