1500–1599
Early Sutton mill recorded
A mill is recorded on the Sutton site in the sixteenth century, with John Hide named as miller.
Site overview
Sutton Mill, known as the Old Mill, was a post corn mill at Seaford in East Sussex. The Sutton mill site had earlier milling associations, but the later mill is thought to have been built around 1773 for William Washer and was described as newly erected in a 1774 sale notice. The mill was probably improved in the early nineteenth century, and a New Mill was later built next door.
Sutton Mill survived long enough to be photographed before demolition and was removed in 1909.
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
Sutton Mill was the Old Mill at Seaford's Sutton mill site. The location had a much earlier milling history, with a sixteenth-century miller named John Hide and a seventeenth-century reference to a miller accused of taking excessive toll. The later Sutton Mill belongs to the eighteenth-century rebuilding of the site.
The mill is thought to have been built around 1773 for William Washer. A sale notice in the Sussex Weekly Advertiser of 26 December 1774 described it as newly erected. The Washer family remained closely associated with the mill in the late eighteenth century, and later tenants included members of the Bull family. The mill worked as a wind-powered post corn mill, serving the Sutton and Seaford area.
The Old Mill was probably modernised in the early 1820s, and in the 1840s a New Mill was built next door. This produced a paired windmill setting in the Sutton part of Seaford. By the early twentieth century the Old Mill had reached the end of its survival. It was photographed before demolition, with one known postcard image postmarked no later than 1908. The mill was demolished in 1909, leaving the site to be recorded through photographs, local history and mill documentation.
Timeline
1638
Seventeenth-century miller recorded
A Sutton miller was presented in 1638 for taking excessive toll.
1773–1774
Later Sutton Mill built
Sutton Mill is thought to have been built around 1773 for William Washer and was described as newly erected in a 1774 sale notice.
1774
Mill advertised for sale
A Sussex Weekly Advertiser sale notice described the mill as newly erected.
1820–1829
Old Mill modernised
The Old Mill was probably modernised in the early 1820s to improve its output.
1840–1849
New Mill built nearby
A second New Mill was built next to the Old Mill in the 1840s.
1908
Mill photographed before demolition
A postcard image of Sutton Mill is postmarked by 1908, showing the mill before demolition.
1909
Mill demolished
Sutton Mill was demolished in 1909.
Sources and records
Sussex Industrial Archaeology Society newsletter article: Lost Mills of Sussex, Seaford, Sutton Mill
Sussex Mills Group lost mills entry: Seaford, Sutton Mill
Mills Archive image record: Sutton Mill, Seaford, known as The Old Mill
Seaford local photographic material on Sutton windmill
Sussex Mills Group lost mills entry: Seaford, Sutton Mill
Mills Archive image record: Sutton Mill, Seaford, known as The Old Mill
Seaford local photographic material on Sutton windmill