In the Spinney between the moated island and the fishponds exists the remains of a 19th century mill and it’s likely it was also the site of a previous mill dating to medieval times. There is an unsolved mystery as to the sort of mills they were – horizontal as opposed to upright, water versus horse driven (in 1528 it is referenced as a ‘hors myll”) or in fact a combination of the two.
Brickwork for the large cylindrical 19th century mill measures 7 metres in diameter and 2 metres in height can still be clearly seen. Traces of the stone lined chute that likely carried water to the mill are still visible linking the southern corner of the moat to the eastern side of the wheel housing some 4 metres further south.
Most villages had at least one mill and water mills were a common site in the Buckinghamshire landscape by the end of the thirteenth century. Historians suggest that due to the effort and expense involved in the construction of a mill, once a site was chosen and the mill constructed, it is very unlikely it would be abandoned and would be in use for centuries. So, it is assumed that the Spinney’s 19th century mill would have replaced an earlier mill that could have dated to medieval times, especially as there is documented mention of a miller in the village in the 1300s.
During the medieval period, mills were usually used for corn grinding and were a sign of status, and an important source of income to the Lord of the Manor who usually leased the wheel and its land to the miller. A Little Horwood miller referenced as W. Goodman is also mentioned in the 1798 document `Posse Comitatus‘.
A water wheel is a relatively straightforward device which requires minimal gearing to turn the grindstones. After turning the wheel, the water was issued from the south side of the wheelhouse and flowed through a straight artificial cutting (or tailrace) which rejoins the stream some 140 metres to the south west.
The tailrace is flanked to either side by parallel banks approximately 78 metres long, one metre high and eight metres wide. To store additional water and increase the pressure and volume directed to the wheel, it is supposed that the moat was turned into a mill pond in the 19th century. The land located to the southwest of the mill site, situated between the tailrace and the brook, is likely to hold remnants of structures and other features that were once part of the mill’s operation. It’s difficult to imagine how it once would have operated, especially given the brook today is very small and slow flowing.
Sadly now, very little remains visibly apart from the ruins of the cylindrical chamber. A newspaper article in The Bedfordshire Advertiser on 14th April 1899 states: ‘A relic of feudal times, the Lord of the Manor’s mill at Little Horwood is just being demolished after standing for some centuries.’
And in 1916 a local newspaper article stated:
‘The old Moat Farm House has gradually gone to decay and with it one of the oldest water mills in the county.’