1880
Drainage pump shown on Ordnance Survey map
The 1880 Ordnance Survey map marked the site as a draining pump.
Site overview
Hoveton Marshes drainage mill, also known as Dydall's Mill, Didler's Mill or Miller's Mill, was a small three-storey drainage mill built on the marsh beside the River Bure. Its red-brick tower carried a Norfolk boat-shaped cap with a gallery, a ten-bladed fantail and four double-shuttered patent sails. The mill appears on the 1880 Ordnance Survey map as a draining pump.
It was damaged by fire in 1912-14 and later ceased to work as a drainage mill. In 1934 the tower was converted into living accommodation, with a glazed lookout-style feature, balcony and octagonal pyramidal roof added to the top. Later accounts record the tower surrounded by trees after working use ended.
The site survives as a converted drainage-mill tower rather than as a complete working pump mill.
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
Hoveton Marshes drainage mill stood on the marsh beside the River Bure between Hoveton Little Broad and Salhouse Broad. Norfolk Mills describes it as a small three-storey drainage mill with a red-brick tower. The tower carried a Norfolk boat-shaped cap, formerly with a gallery and a ten-bladed fantail. Wind power was supplied by four double-shuttered patent sails. The mill was known by several names, including Dydall's Mill, Didler's Mill and Miller's Mill.
The mill appears on the 1880 Ordnance Survey map as a draining pump, confirming its role in marsh drainage rather than corn milling. The consulted source does not give a precise construction date. Its working form belonged to the Broads drainage-mill tradition, using wind power to lift or move water from low-lying marshland beside the river.
The mill suffered a fire in 1912-14. The exact working history after the fire is only briefly recorded in the consulted source, but the tower survived. In 1934 it was converted into accommodation. This conversion altered the appearance of the tower by adding a glazed lookout-style feature with a balcony and an octagonal pyramidal roof to the top.
Later photographs and recollections show the post-working tower as a distinctive converted structure. Norfolk Mills records the converted tower in 1978, 1990 and 2019, and notes that trees grew around the tower after the mill ceased working. The surviving structure therefore represents the post-closure adaptation of a small Broads drainage mill, retaining the brick tower but not its working sails, cap or pumping machinery in operational form.
Timeline
1912–1914
Mill burnt out
Norfolk Mills records the mill as burnt out during 1912-14.
1934
Tower converted into accommodation
The tower was converted to living accommodation, with a glazed lookout feature, balcony and octagonal pyramidal roof added.
1978
Converted tower photographed
The converted drainage-mill tower was photographed in May 1978.
2019
Surviving converted tower recorded
The converted tower was still recorded in July 2019, with trees grown around the site.
Sources and records
Norfolk Mills: Hoveton Marshes drainage pump
Ordnance Survey 1880 map cited by Norfolk Mills
Geograph photograph record: Didler's Mill, Hoveton Marshes
Ordnance Survey 1880 map cited by Norfolk Mills
Geograph photograph record: Didler's Mill, Hoveton Marshes