Mills on the River Wey and its tributaries facts for kids

Many watermills once lined the banks of the River Wey in England. From the 1600s, these mills used the river's steady flow to power their machinery. They mostly ground wheat (often called corn) into flour and oats for animal feed.

But these mills did much more! Some helped make paper, cloth, leather, wire, and even gunpowder. The River Wey had more mills per mile than almost any other river in Great Britain. The biggest mill was at Coxes Lock near Addlestone, Surrey.

Many smaller rivers, called tributaries, also had mills. These include the Tillingbourne, the Ock, and streams like Whitmore Vale, Cranleigh Waters, and Hodge Brook. The last mill on the Tillingbourne, Botting's Mill, closed in 1991. But Headley Water Mill on the Wey South branch is still working today! Town Mill, Guildford even uses its water turbine to make electricity for the town.

Town Mill, Guildford, an old mill that now makes electricity.

Mills of the River Wey

The mills are listed starting from the river's source and moving downstream.

Wey (North branch) Mills

• Anstey Mill, Alton: This mill is now a ruin, but you can still see its wheel. It's a historic building, protected as a Grade II listed building.
• Upper Neatham Mill, Holybourne: No signs of this mill remain today.
• Lower Neatham Mill, Alton: This old mill is now a private home. It's also a Grade II listed building.
• Wyck Mill, Froyle: This was a fulling mill, used for cleaning and thickening cloth. No trace of it remains.
• Froyle Mill: Another fulling mill that has disappeared. Homes now stand where it once was.
• Isington Mill, Binstead: This mill is now a private home. It was once owned by the famous General Montgomery. It's a Grade II listed building.
• Bentley Mill: Also known as Groveland Mill, it was built in 1640. It started as a paper mill, then became a fulling mill and a corn mill. Today, it's a guest house. Its machinery was removed around 1915. It's a Grade II listed building.
• Willey Mill, Farnham: This mill has a very long history, dating back to the Domesday Book. It's a Grade II listed building.
• Weydon Mill: Also called La Medmulle, this mill stopped working in 1909 and was torn down in 1919. It's now a ruin.
• Hatch Mill, Farnham: This mill was once a laundry and then an art college. By 2018, it became a care home. It's a Grade II listed building.
• High Mill, Farnham: This mill ground corn until 1900, then made animal feed until it closed in 1950. It's a Grade II listed building.
• Waverley Mill: This mill was part of the Waverley Abbey estate. It was demolished in 1900, and nothing remains.
• Tilford Mill: You can still see the brick foundations and parts of the mill race (the channel that carried water to the wheel).

Nadder Stream Mills

• Bourne Mill, Farnham: Built in the 1600s, part of this mill now houses a business. It's a Grade II listed building.
• Little Bourne Mill, Farnham: This small corn mill was powered by water from Bourne Mill. It stopped working by 1849 and was later destroyed by fire.
• Rock Mill, Farnham: Built around 1770, this corn mill stopped working in 1877. Only its foundations remain.

Wey (South branch) Mills

• Lowder Mill, Fernhurst: Built around 1729, it stopped working by 1881. It's now a private home and a Grade II listed building.
• Sickle Mill, Shottermill: This mill was first a paper mill, built next to an older hammer mill used by sickle makers. Later, it made candle wicks and cord. By the 1920s, it stopped working. In 1997, parts of it became private homes. It's a Grade II listed building.
• Shotter Mill, Shottermill: This mill, originally for fulling cloth, gave its name to the nearby village, which is now part of Haslemere. It's a Grade II listed building.
• New Mill, Shottermill: This mill was a tannery (for processing animal skins) and then a paper mill. It closed in 1903 and was torn down in 1978. No visible traces remain.
• Pitfold Mill, Shottermill: Another tannery, later used as a sawmill. It was demolished in the 1980s.
• Pophole Mill: One of the oldest mill sites on the Wey, mentioned in 1200. It was a hammer mill with a forge. It stopped working by 1777, and nothing remains.
• Bramshott Corn Mill: A mill for grinding corn.
• Bramshott Mill: Also known as Passfield Mill, it was first a hammer mill, then a paper mill.
• Standford Mill: Built in 1830 as a paper mill, it's now a private home.
• Headley Mill:
  Main article: Headley Water Mill
  This corn mill is still working today! It's a Grade II listed building.
• Headley Park Mill: This unusual hexagonal corn mill worked until the 1890s. In 1904, it made electricity for Headley Park House. A fire in the 1960s left it a ruin.
• Frensham Mill: A corn mill built in 1876, it was demolished in 1922.

River Slea Mills

• Old Mill, Selborne: This corn mill on the Oakhanger Stream is now a private home. It's a Grade II listed building.
• Dorton Mill, Selborne: Another corn mill on the Oakhanger Stream.
• Kingsley Mill: This corn mill is located where the Kingsley Stream and Oakhanger Streams meet. It's now a private home and a Grade II listed building.

Whitmore Vale Stream Mills

• Barford Upper Mill: Originally a paper mill, then a flock mill (for processing wool waste), it's now a private home. It's a Grade II listed building.
• Barford Middle Mill: A corn mill that was demolished and replaced by a private home.
• Barford Lower Mill: Also known as the Old Mill, Churt. This paper mill closed in 1884 and was later demolished. Parts of it are now in a modern house.

Wey River Mills

• Elstead Mill: This corn mill was later used to make braided fabric. It even served as a hospital during World War I. In recent times, it became a pub. It's a very important historic building, listed as Grade II*.
• Cutt Mill: Little remains of this mill, which stopped working in the 1930s.
• Cosford Mill, Thursley: Built around 1580, this mill is now a private home. It's a Grade II listed building.
• Silk Mill, Thursley: This mill operated between 1794 and 1849 and was demolished by 1871.
• Eashing Mill: This mill made both paper and ground corn until 1835, then only paper. Its water wheel was replaced by a water turbine. Today, it's used for light engineering.
• Salgasson Mill: Originally a corn mill, it later processed fibers and leather. The building has been completely torn down.
• Westbrook Mill: This mill was a tannery, fulling mill, and paper mill. In 1881, its waterwheel powered a generator, making Godalming the first town in Britain to have electric lights!
• Catteshall Mill: Originally a paper mill, it later became a fulling mill, corn mill, and foundry. In 1869, a huge water turbine replaced the wheel. When part of the mill was demolished in 1981, the turbine was saved.
• Unstead Mill: This corn mill stopped working in 1906 and was completely demolished.
• Town Mill, Guildford:
  Main article: Town Mill, Guildford
  This 18th-century mill ground corn and pumped water. It's a Grade II listed building.
• Artington Mill: A corn mill that stopped working in the late 1600s. A pub now stands on its site.
• Stoke Mill:
  Main article: Stoke Mill, Guildford
  This 19th-century corn mill is now used as offices.
• Bower's Mill, Burpham: A paper mill was here in 1733, and a corn mill was added later. After paper making stopped, it became a corn mill, then made linseed oil. All milling stopped by 1910, and the mill was demolished in 1945.
• Gresham Mill, Old Woking: Also known as Woking Mill, it was a paper mill and printing works. It's now private apartments.
• Newark Mill: This mid-17th-century corn mill was also a paper mill for a few years. It closed in 1943 after being bombed and was destroyed by fire in 1966.
• Byfleet Mill: This early 19th-century corn mill stopped working in 1950. The building has been restored and is a Grade II* listed building.
• Coxes Lock Mills:
  Main article: Coxes Lock
  The first mill here was built in 1776 for working iron. Later, it became a corn and silk mill. A large corn mill built in 1900 ground flour until 1983. These buildings are now private homes and are Grade II listed.
• Liberty Mill: This sawmill was built in 1843. It continued working into the 20th century. At one time, a company made wooden propellers here. The site is now a small industrial area.
• Ham Haw Mill: Also known as Whittets Mill, this paper mill was built in 1691. It was used as a corn mill and then a linseed oil mill. It worked until the 1960s when a fire largely destroyed it. Homes now stand on the site.

River Ock Mills

• Enton Mill: This corn mill was built around 1621. It's now a private home. Inside, the mast of an old tea clipper ship is used as a spiral staircase! It's a Grade II listed building.
• Rake Mill, Witley: Originally a fulling mill from 1577. The artist Neville Lytton used it as a studio, but it was destroyed by fire in 1902.
• Ockford Mill: This 19th-century corn mill stopped working in 1934. It's now used for light industry.
• Hatch Mill, Godalming: This flour mill has parts dating back to the 1600s. It stopped milling in 1950 but was used as a warehouse. Now called the Old Mill, it houses a light industrial company.
• Mill Lane leather mill: This 17th-century mill served the tanneries of Godalming. It burned down twice but kept working until it finally closed in 1953.

Cranleigh Waters Mills

• Cranleigh Mill: This corn mill has parts from the 1500s. It's a Grade II listed building.
• Wonersh Mill: An 18th-century corn mill, it was updated in 1885 with a water turbine. It stopped milling in 1910 and is now used for storage.
• Hascombe Mill: Dating back to 1690, this mill stopped working in the late 1890s. Only a few ruins remain.
• Snowdenham Mill: Built around 1792, it was a corn mill and later a feed mill. It's now abandoned, but its machinery is still inside.
• Bramley Mill: A 17th-century corn mill on the site of an older fulling mill. It stopped working in 1931 and became a home in 1935.

Tillingbourne Mills

The River Tillingbourne is the main smaller river that flows into the Wey. Twenty-four mill sites have been found along its path!

• Brookmill: Established in the 1500s, possibly as a gunpowder mill.
• Friday Street Upper Mill: On the Friday Street stream.
• Friday Street Mill: Also on the Friday Street Stream. Both corn and malt mills were here from about 1579 until 1736. Some think it might have also worked with iron.
• Wotton House Mill: No trace of this mill remains.
• Crane's Mill: Also called Abinger Mill.
• Paddington Mill: A corn mill until 1915, then used to store watercress. By 2017, it was converted into private homes.
• Abinger Hammer Mill: A hammer mill built by 1557 on the site of an older corn mill. It stopped production in 1787.
• Sutton Mill: On the Holbury St Mary Stream. Possibly a 14th-century fulling mill and corn mill.
• Gomshall Mill: This corn mill stopped working in 1953. In 1964, it became a pub and restaurant. Its machinery is still there and is part of the bar's design!
• Gomshall Tannery: This tannery was still working into the 1980s but was destroyed by fire in 1992.
• Netley Mill: Also known as Shere Mill, it was a corn mill until 1907. It was used as a pumping station from 1970 and is now private homes.
• Shere Lower Mill: No trace remains.
• Shere West Mill: A corn mill.
• Albury Park Mill: Originally a corn mill, it became a paper mill in 1793. It stopped working by 1810 and was then used as a laundry.
• Albury Mill: A medieval corn mill that burned down in 1830. It was rebuilt and used water turbines to power Albury Park. It's now offices and private homes.
• Postford Upper Mill: Built in 1809 as a paper mill that made paper for banknotes. It closed by 1875.
• Postford Lower Mill: Also built in 1809 for banknote paper. After paper production stopped in the 1870s, it became a corn mill. It was the last working commercial mill on the river, closing in 1991. It was demolished in 1996.
• Postford House Mill: Built in the 1830s. It closed in 1865.
• Chilworth Gunpowder Mills: These mills were first developed by the East India Company in 1625. It was a large complex of up to 14 mills, some steam-powered, and worked until 1920. The site is now a protected historic area.
• Chilworth Great Mill: Built as a paper mill for banknotes. It closed in the 1870s.
• Chilworth Little Mill: Also built as a paper mill for banknotes. It closed in the 1870s.
• East Shalford Mill: An old mill site.
• Shalford Mill:
  Main article: Shalford Mill
  This corn and grist mill stopped production in 1914. It was saved from ruin by a group called Ferguson's Gang in 1932 and given to the National Trust.

Hodge Brook Mills

• Pirbright Mill: A corn and timber mill from the early 1800s. It's now a private home, but much of the machinery is still inside.
• Heath Mill, Worplesdon: Built in 1902 after an earlier mill burned down. It's now a private home.
• Rickford's Mill, Worplesdon: An 18th-century corn mill, now a private home.

East Clandon Stream Mills

• Ockham Mill: Built in 1862 after a fire destroyed the previous mill. It stopped milling in 1927 and was a ruin until 1958 when it became a private home. Its machinery has been restored. It's a Grade II listed building.
• Clandon Mill: No trace of this mill remains.

Images for kids

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  Sheep washing - Enton Mill Surrey