In Thornton there is an old watermill but there was also a windmill, now long gone, in a field on the other side of the railway line. I have said in Thornton but the oldest reference to a windmill and a watermill that I have so far found for our Parish says that these existed in Bagworth, the reference dates to the 7th year of the reign of Edward I, 1279/80. The descriptions of Thornton and Stanton from the same time do not mention any mills.
The mill that I’m missing is a second water mill somewhere in our Parish. I already know the site of the windmill and the watermill in Thornton, so why do I think that, at some point in our history, there was a second watermill?
The first hint that I had, and it was a strong one, is a lease held in the Nottinghamshire County Records Office, a summary of which I found using the internet. The lease is dated 14th January 1649/50 and includes a description of Bagworth Park: “a Parke of impaled or inclosed ground called Bagworth Parke, Leics., with the park and lands, 2 water corn-mills and 1 windmill at Bagworth and Thornton Leics”. Unfortunately, things are never as easy as you would like. Some 30 years before this, when Bagworth Park was being exchanged by Sir Robert Bannaster for Ingarsby, an inventory was drawn up and this included only a single mill with an annual rental value of £12.
The mystery continues, in a rental for the “Manne of Stanton” dating from the 17th century and available from the Leicestershire County Records Office, is a list of tenants paying various rents for unidentified properties in “Horspoole”, Stanton and “Markfeild”. Among the Stanton tenants is one Joseph Hall who is shown as paying a rent of £4 for “the mill”.
The John Prior map of 1777, available from the local library service, shows the windmill and the watermill in Thornton. There is no indication of the second watermill in Bagworth and Thornton and no mill in Stanton.
More evidence for this third mill comes from a copy of a map of Stanton under Bardon that I came across in Coalville Library,which shows the old fields in Stanton. These are called Old Field, Hawney Field, Pare Field (which seems to have included Withybeck Meadow) and Mill Field. I can date this map to the late 18th century, possibly 1779. This shows Mill Field as running along the southern side of Thornton Lane between Stanton and Thornton. The problem with this map, besides its poor quality, is that it only shows 3 sides of Mill Field so I do not know how far towards Thornton the field went, but the field does extend along the entire southern edge of Stanton. This does indicate that a mill existed in this area at some point in time all I need now is a suitable water source in this area. The other problem is that the 1794 map of Thornton I have shows the same area as being called Stanton Field although this could be a generic term for land belonging to Stanton.
So I have a source telling me that there was a second water mill in Bagworth and/or Thornton in the mid 17th century. I also have another 17th century source telling me that a mill existed in Stanton under Bardon at that time and yet another early 17th century document telling me that a mill was owned by the proprietors of Bagworth Park. And I have two 18th century maps, one showing that a mill had existed in Stanton, or possibly Thornton, and the other showing that it was no more. What I know for sure is that a third mill existed in the Parish in the 17th century, where it was, when it was built and when it was demolished I do not know.
If anyone does have any information or ideas on the missing mill I would love to talk with you. My e-mail address is peter.leadbetter@dsfc.ac.uk
Researched and written by Peter Leadbetter
Thornton 