Parish Mill Longhope, & other watermills of Eastern FoD. (General)

by Jefff , West London, Middlesex, Saturday, August 13, 2016, 20:23 (3029 days ago) @ slowhands

I meant to post to this old thread when it was still active, apologies for being so remiss.

Anyone researching the history of the many old mills of the eastern Forest should read this excellent article produced by the Gloucestershire Society for Industrial Archaeology. It shows that since medieval times there have been scores of water-powered mills and furnaces built to harness the power of streams feeding the Severn at Westbury, including Longhope Brook and it's tributaries.

http://www.gsia.org.uk/reprints/1974/gi197408.pdf

The map at the head of the article shows the old Longhope Parish Mill as number 10, located just where Slowhands described; later in the article the history of each numbered site is described in detail. Comparing this map and early Ordnance Survey maps against modern satellite imagery is an interesting exercise !

Google Earth images clearly show the old mill pond at nearby Harts Barn (Grist mills 8 and 9 on GSIA map), but the ponds at the Parish Mill have long been filled-in. However the line of trees between these sites shows the eastward course of the old mill-race streams which fed-them before joining the main Longhope Brook on it's southward route past Blaisdon to Westbury.

The Grist and Parish Mill are on this 1878 O.S. Map, lower R/H corner.
http://maps.nls.uk/view/101453097

The adjacent map shows the route of Longhope Brook thro' the village, past Furnace Mill etc.
http://maps.nls.uk/view/101453124

http://www.gsia.org.uk/