This was a complementary visit really - its been done before, several times since the 2020 report from @mookster, so doesn’t count as exploring.
It did come up when I finally got round to doing a map search of Bucks, which was reassuring, one of only a few water-related things left in this county.
If you want to see pretty pictures look at any of the previous posts - mine is a quick once round with the phone to see what the place is actually about.
In short it’s rather similar to Tibberton Mill - an animal feed (provender) Mill, made more interesting by being powered by a water turbine.
History. The mill has had various names (Tunbridge Mill, Cowley Mill, Bridge Mill) and numerous owners, the last being the Taylors.
In the 1930s it was described as being powered by a ca 13 x 6 ft waterwheel, which turned a conventional array of gears in a wooden hurst frame driving two pairs of stones above, one for maize, the other barley.
Above them there were takeoffs for an oat crusher and sack hoist.
The original machinery went when the wheel was replaced with a turbine, I'm guessing in the 1940s.
Map showing the water flow, with two bypasses.
Where the water went in - I didn’t bother with the attached mill house on the left.
The turbine is by Robert Craig and Sons of Belfast - not that common, in over 60 corn mills I’ve only seen a couple.
The control rod is attached to a governor, on the right, with the main shaft going up to a gearbox, on the left.
Also in this space are a couple of generators - a Newtons ’S’ type machine (not pictured) and this Petter, sitting on top of its dynamo, for lighting.
There would originally have been a bank of batteries - the generators are old enough to have been driven by the water wheel.
There’s also an air compressor, with an air tank nearby.
I don’t know what this would have been used for unless grain was being transferred pneumatically - maybe it was just for spray painting delivery lorries.
The shaft coming from the turbine gearbox turns another…
…which extends through the wall of the rebuilt wheel pit, being linked upstairs to processing machines.
The chutes coming down from the machines above have straps and hoops for attaching sacks.
A Fyna Industries ‘hammer mill’ in the annex next door, driven by a hefty electric motor (Brook Motors).
This sort of hammer mill is a general purpose basher-up of lumpy stuff like oil cake which gets pulverised and blown up into the hopper.
On the first floor is a group of three processing machines.
The nearest one is for chopping up corn, by Barron and Son, who were mentioned in connection with Tibberton Mill.
The middle one is a ‘Dreadnought’, a general purpose grinder, also by Barron.
This was a successor to the old fashioned horizontal pair of stones and is only the second example I’ve seen.
The end one is a corn crusher by R Hunt and Co Ltd - many firms made these.
The attic, like other parts of the building, has been redone and is empty apart from a sack hoist.
There would originally have been grain bins up here and a roller for the hoist over the sack hole.
Tailrace.
The building isn’t listed, being of no particular architectural interest, so will probably be turned into a house - which is what happens to most of these old water mills if they aren’t too far gone.
Potentially with a free supply of electricity too.
It did come up when I finally got round to doing a map search of Bucks, which was reassuring, one of only a few water-related things left in this county.
If you want to see pretty pictures look at any of the previous posts - mine is a quick once round with the phone to see what the place is actually about.
In short it’s rather similar to Tibberton Mill - an animal feed (provender) Mill, made more interesting by being powered by a water turbine.
History. The mill has had various names (Tunbridge Mill, Cowley Mill, Bridge Mill) and numerous owners, the last being the Taylors.
In the 1930s it was described as being powered by a ca 13 x 6 ft waterwheel, which turned a conventional array of gears in a wooden hurst frame driving two pairs of stones above, one for maize, the other barley.
Above them there were takeoffs for an oat crusher and sack hoist.
The original machinery went when the wheel was replaced with a turbine, I'm guessing in the 1940s.
Map showing the water flow, with two bypasses.
Where the water went in - I didn’t bother with the attached mill house on the left.
The turbine is by Robert Craig and Sons of Belfast - not that common, in over 60 corn mills I’ve only seen a couple.
The control rod is attached to a governor, on the right, with the main shaft going up to a gearbox, on the left.
Also in this space are a couple of generators - a Newtons ’S’ type machine (not pictured) and this Petter, sitting on top of its dynamo, for lighting.
There would originally have been a bank of batteries - the generators are old enough to have been driven by the water wheel.
There’s also an air compressor, with an air tank nearby.
I don’t know what this would have been used for unless grain was being transferred pneumatically - maybe it was just for spray painting delivery lorries.
The shaft coming from the turbine gearbox turns another…
…which extends through the wall of the rebuilt wheel pit, being linked upstairs to processing machines.
The chutes coming down from the machines above have straps and hoops for attaching sacks.
A Fyna Industries ‘hammer mill’ in the annex next door, driven by a hefty electric motor (Brook Motors).
This sort of hammer mill is a general purpose basher-up of lumpy stuff like oil cake which gets pulverised and blown up into the hopper.
On the first floor is a group of three processing machines.
The nearest one is for chopping up corn, by Barron and Son, who were mentioned in connection with Tibberton Mill.
The middle one is a ‘Dreadnought’, a general purpose grinder, also by Barron.
This was a successor to the old fashioned horizontal pair of stones and is only the second example I’ve seen.
The end one is a corn crusher by R Hunt and Co Ltd - many firms made these.
The attic, like other parts of the building, has been redone and is empty apart from a sack hoist.
There would originally have been grain bins up here and a roller for the hoist over the sack hole.
Tailrace.
The building isn’t listed, being of no particular architectural interest, so will probably be turned into a house - which is what happens to most of these old water mills if they aren’t too far gone.
Potentially with a free supply of electricity too.
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