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Drainage tower mill built
Charlie Water's Mill was built on the west bank of the River Bure, just north of Mill House Farm.
Site overview
Charlie Water's Mill is a former drainage tower mill at Acle in Norfolk. It was built on the west bank of the River Bure, just north of Mill House Farm, and pumped water by scoop wheel. The site was marked as a draining pump on the 1905 Ordnance Survey map.
By 1973 the tower was still standing but had been reduced to two storeys, with double doors, windows and a flat roof, and was being used as a store. The reduced tower remains a small but clear survival of the Broads drainage-mill landscape.
Map
Map markers and directions links are provided for location reference only and do not indicate public access or permission to enter a site.
No site photograph is currently available. Images will be added as field visits are carried out.
History
Charlie Water's Mill stood on the west bank of the River Bure at Acle, just north of Mill House Farm. It was a wind-powered drainage tower mill, built to pump water from the marshland drainage system rather than to grind corn. Its pumping machinery worked by scoop wheel.
The mill formed part of the dense drainage landscape of the Norfolk Broads. The 1905 Ordnance Survey map marked the site as a draining pump, confirming its role in the marshland water-management system. Later records show the survival of the tower after the loss of its full working form. By July 1973 the tower was still in situ but had been reduced to two storeys. It had double doors, windows and a flat roof and was being used as a store. Photographic records from 1973 and 1989 document the reduced tower's later appearance.
The surviving building is therefore a reduced tower rather than a complete drainage windmill. The cap, sails and working wind-powered pumping apparatus have gone, but the lower brick tower remains on the River Bure as a visible remnant of Acle's drainage-mill history.
Timeline
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Scoop-wheel pumping
The drainage mill pumped water by means of a scoop wheel.
1905
Draining pump mapped
The 1905 Ordnance Survey map marked the site as a draining pump.
1973
Reduced tower recorded
By July 1973 the tower was still in situ but reduced to two storeys, with double doors, windows and a flat roof, and was being used as a store.
1989
Reduced tower photographed
Photographic records show the reduced tower still standing in May 1989.
Sources and records
Norfolk Mills entry: Acle Charlie Water's drainage pump
Mills Archive record: Charlie Water's Mill, Acle
Windmill World entry: Acle Charlie Water's Mill
Norfolk drainage windmill listings
Mills Archive record: Charlie Water's Mill, Acle
Windmill World entry: Acle Charlie Water's Mill
Norfolk drainage windmill listings