1807
Harleston post mill advertised
A substantial post windmill at Harleston was advertised for sale with its going gears and appurtenances.
Site overview
Harleston School Lane post mill stood in the Redenhall end of Harleston, in an area once known as Redenhall with Harleston. The mill had a 21-foot diameter roundhouse and drove two pairs of French burr stones. It was built around 1824 and may have occupied the site of an earlier mill.
A post windmill at Harleston was advertised in 1807, and Roger Brock's 1821 will referred to a post windmill with flour mill stones and going gears in Redenhall with Harleston. In August 1824 the recently erected mill was advertised for auction with two pairs of French stones. The tithe award of 1840 recorded Robert Asten as owner and occupier.
In 1852 the mill was offered for sale as an old-established post windmill in substantial repair, but no standing structure is recorded.
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
Harleston School Lane post mill stood in the Redenhall end of Harleston, the part of the town south and east of the Bungay to Scole turnpike road. School Lane was still known as Mill Lane as late as 1861. A post windmill at Harleston was advertised for sale in April 1807 with its going gears and appurtenances.
Roger Brock, a millwright of Mendham, owned a post windmill with flour mill stones, going gears and other tackle on leased land in Redenhall with Harleston; his will was written on 3 April 1821 and proved on 1 October 1824. In August 1824 the mill was advertised for auction as a very capital recently erected windmill with two pairs of French stones and other apparatus, then under lease to Robert Asten. It is therefore recorded as built around 1824 and possibly on an earlier mill site.
The 1840 tithe award recorded Robert Asten as both owner and occupier of the mill and yard. In November 1852 the property was again advertised for sale, describing a spacious old-established post windmill in substantial repair, driving two pairs of French stones with going gears and machinery in good order, erected on a brick roundhouse 21 feet in diameter. The sale also included a dwelling house, garden, mill yard, paddock, stable, cart lodge, piggery and outbuildings.
Later directory and census entries record the Asten family and other millers associated with Mill Lane. The available record identifies the working site and its nineteenth-century operation, but no surviving mill structure is described.
Timeline
1821
Roger Brock will written
Roger Brock's will referred to his post windmill with flour mill stones, going gears and other tackle in Redenhall with Harleston.
1824
Recently erected mill advertised
The mill was advertised as a recently erected windmill with two pairs of French stones and other apparatus.
1840
Tithe award recorded mill
The tithe award recorded Robert Asten as owner and occupier of the mill and yard.
1852
Old-established post mill offered for sale
The mill was advertised as a spacious post windmill in substantial repair, driving two pairs of French stones and standing on a 21-foot brick roundhouse.
1861
Mill Lane name still used
School Lane was still also known as Mill Lane in 1861.
Sources and records
Norfolk Mills: Harleston School Lane post mill
Norfolk Chronicle notices
Roger Brock will reference
Harleston tithe award, 1840
White's, Pigot's, Craven's and Kelly's directory entries
Norfolk Chronicle notices
Roger Brock will reference
Harleston tithe award, 1840
White's, Pigot's, Craven's and Kelly's directory entries