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The information on the history of Hooe Mill came, mainly, from two sources – my Grandfather, from his book “Records of Hooe” and an entry he wrote on the Mill, in the “Sussex County Magazine”, in 1935, and from the “Sussex Mills Group”, online at “http://www.sussexmillsgroup.org.uk” who were extremely helpful and told me so much more about the mill than I might otherwise have ever found out by myself. They advised me of a gentleman by the name of Herbert Simmons (1901-1973).who, for 40 years, carried out his own, private research into the windmills and watermills of Britain, recording details and taking photographs, most of which were taken during the 1930s. The “Sussex Mills Group” purchased a set of the Sussex records from Simmons’ extensive collection – and I am very grateful that they did!
The first thing to say about Hooe Mill is that, as far as records go, there have been at least three but, it would seem, all built at the same, or roughly the same, location – one mill replacing the previous. When, why, and by whom, these mills were built and replaced is not known except in the case of the last mill.
The earliest mention of a mill in Hooe is soon after the Conquest, when it is said to have belonged to the Earl of Eu and to have been of a rental value of 7 shillings a year – for those who don’t know the old currency, 240 pennies made £1 and a shilling was 12 pennies. In 1971 the system and coinage went metric and the new penny was born – worth 2.4 old pennies – so, 7s was 84d (old pence) and equates to 35p – except in value! You, certainly, wouldn’t have been able to buy the mill for 35p! Trying to compare the actual value is exceedingly difficult – so I haven’t tried!
For the full mention of what the Domesday Book says, and the mill, click here The Domesday Book
On this website there is a separate section on the millers and their families, under my section 005 - Village Occupations/A005 – Millers.
The first “Hooe” mill is, as stated above, mentioned in the Domesday book and was, actually, situated at Hooe Common, but what type it was, when built and when demolished isn’t known. It was, however, almost certainly, built on, or close to, the same spot as the later two mills, we know of. According to Simmons, who referred to it as “Hooe Common Windmill”, it stood 1 1/4 miles north-east of Hooe Church, at Hooe Common.
John Speed's map of 1610, shows a windmill that appears to be located much nearer to Ninfield than to Hooe, or even to Hooe Common (as does Robert Morden's map of 1695,and my immediate concern was that the mill shown might not have been that of Hooe but a windmill in Ninfield. The Domesday Book, however, doesn’t mention a windmill in Ninfield and none is shown on any later map, including the 1813 Ordnance Survey map of Sussex, which purported to show every windmill standing at that time. So, Ninfield’s windmill, pulled down in 1936, must have been built no earlier than 1814.
Having said the above, which comes from reputable sources, there is a problem, however, which, while it doesn’t affect what has been said about Hooe Mill does put in doubt what has been said about the one at Ninfield. In a book, written by the Rev. Peter Hemming, published in 1936 by “The C. W. Daniel Co. Ltd”, Mr Hemming says, “It was built in the year 1809, the late Mr Wm. Morris being the last miller to work it, his predecessor being a miller of the name of Barton.” Mr Hemming was very interested in windmills and did a great deal of research - so, why wasn’t it on the map of 1813? If I should live long enough to go into the history of Ninfield, I may find the answer, until then….!
Returning to the subject of Hooe Mill, later Sussex maps, namely of 1724, 1753, 1779, also show Hooe mill, but it doesn’t appear on Yeakell and Gardner’s two inch map of 1785-6 nor on Thomas Gream’s map of 1795, which suggests that, during this time, the period from 1785 to 1795, the mill had been demolished to make way, perhaps, for a new “Post” mill, sometime about 1800.
Hooe Post Mill – 1800(?) - 1848
Simmons says that, this “mill stood on the east side of Hooe Common, a little to the south of Parish Farm, at the end of Mill Lane. It was owned by William Wrenn in 1806 and could have been built for him. Upon his death in 1810, the business was carried on by his widow and later sold to Thomas Baldock. It was subsequently acquired by William Walters of Ninfield who let it to Walter Wrenn in 1828. In 1833, it was bought by Walter Wrenn who worked it until 1841 after which it was worked by the Goldsmith family until pulled down in 1848. The smock mill was then built on the same site.”
This mill is shown on the tithe map of 1839
Hooe Smock Mill – 1848-1899
Below is a sketch of the mill, made by my grandfather, just before it was demolished. It's difficult, from the sketch, to say just how bad a state it was in but there appears to be something growing over the cap and it has, obviously, lost two of its four sails
My grandfather made another sketch of Hooe Mill, in the same year, 1899, but this only shows the bottom part of the mill and the houses around it.
Again, the following comes directly from Simmons. “Hooe Smock Mill was built for Thomas Beeching in 1848. The mill was fitted with two pairs of stones, one French Burr and one Peak. It also had flour and smut machines. Richard Pope was the miller in 1855, with Hugh Simmons working it up until 1890. James Cuthbert then worked the mill and although Stephen Cuthbert occupied the mill in 1896, it was not used during this period. Prior to its demolition in 1899, when it was pulled over with ropes, two of the four sweeps had been removed as well as the fan, as shown in the sketch provided by John Newport.”
This mill is the one shown on the map of 1873
“In 1937 the site was occupied by a modern house known as ‘The Retreat’. There was also a millstone within the lawn in the front of the house.”
[N.B. The “John Newport”, that Simmons mentions is, and was, not me (I’m not that old, though some mornings…..!) but my grandfather, John James Newport, Hooe’s head teacher for twenty-five years and the local historian. Some of what Simmons wrote almost certainly came from J. J. N.’s book, ”The Records of Hooe”, which also appears on this website.]
In 1936, my grandfather produced a map of Hooe, entitled "A PLAN OF HOOE PARISH" and sub-titled "with 17th Century Place Names". On that map he indicates where he knew the mill would have been and the location shown is not exactly the same position as shown on the 1873 map, but very close, within the accuracy of the sketch. Click on the picture to see a larger image.
My grandfather has, also, labelled the mill, "Colman's Mill", which may be how it was known in the 17th century (after a John Colman) and up until the time it was demolished.
Follow this link for a short description of a “Post Mill” and a “Smock Mill”
