Haxted

Haxted
Surrey
Haxted Mill
Location
Grid reference:	TQ424457
Location:	51.192775) 0.037119
Data
Local Government
Council:	Tandridge

Haxted is a small village in eastern Surrey, close by the border with Kent, which is marked by the Kent Brook, not half a mile before the Brook ends its short life by discharging itself into the River Eden. Haxted itself stands on a little rise between the two streams and is thus surrounded by water on three sides. The Eden itself flows from within Surrey westward past the village but is the reason for the village’s most notable feature; the Hasted Watermill.

The closest town is Edenbridge, to the east over the brook in Kent.

Haxted Watermill

The Eden provides the power to the Haxted Watermill, which stands a little to the west of the village, before the Eden enters Kent is the, a much-restored watermill at the edge of the village.

The Domesday Book of 1086 states that Haxted has a mill, which is believed to have been on the site of the mill today. The mill was mentioned in the will of Sir Reginald de Cobham in 1361.

The western half of the building of today dates from about 1580 and the eastern half to 1794. The mill was last used to grind flour in 1919 but worked until 1945. It was formerly a museum with a turning waterwheel and other machinery, but is now a brasserie and bar.

The current waterwheel is an overshot wheel. It has a diameter of 10 feet and a width of 9 feet. It was installed in about 1830, but by 1972 the 72 iron buckets had failed and were replaced by fibreglass replicas. The bearing-stone for an earlier, undershot waterwheel was found during renovation and this dates to the fourteenth century. In full working order the current wheel produced about 11 hp, rotating at 8 r.p.m. and driving three pairs of millstones, through gearing, at 120 rpm. The Pit Wheel and Wallower are of the same date as the waterwheel, but the Great Spur Wheel, made of oak with applewood teeth, has been dated to 1580. The mill originally operated three pairs of millstones, but in the later years of its working life one pair was removed.

References

A guide to Haxted Water Mill Museum, 1981

Outside links

The History of Haxted Water Mill accessed 2008-07-24