River Maun - Mills

Mills

The river has provided an important source of power in the past. The Domesday book, produced in 1086, mentions that Mansfield had a watermill, and there are many references to watermills thereafter. In 1292, a fulling mill is mentioned. This was situated to the north of the town, probably near to the later Stanton's Mill, and was part of the process for making woollen cloth.

Mansfield had a cottage industry, which by 1800 consisted of around 700 knitting frames. It operated as a social service, as most of the workers were either orphaned children, or children from families who would otherwise be destitute. Following the invention of the "water-frame", a spinning frame that was powered by a water wheel, which had been invented by Richard Arkwright in 1771 and used in his mills at Cromford, the cottage industry could not compete, and there was widespread unemployment and poverty in Mansfield. In an attempt to remedy the situation, William Cavendish-Bentinck, 3rd Duke of Portland, who was the landowner, and who later became Home Secretary, organised a programme of building water-powered spinning mills along the river. Hermitage Mill was the first to be built, in 1782, and still stands on Hermitage lane. Little Matlock Mill was built three years later on Sheepbridge Lane, and again still stands. Field Mill on Nottingham Road was converted to work with cotton in 1785. Immediately above it was Drury Mill, a corn mill run by Daniel Drury, but this had to be closed in 1791 when the water level in Field Mill Dam was raised, preventing Drury's wheel from working efficiently. Field Mill was in use as a leather works by 1916 and was demolished in 1925.

The next mill on the river was Town Mill, which had been built in 1744, and was used for grinding corn and malt. The miller, William Smith, negotiated with the Duke, and in 1785 he sold the corn milling equipment and refitted it for working with cotton. Having also refitted Field Mill in the autumn, he started a Sunday School in 1786, so that his young workers would be equipped with basic reading and mathematical skills, as well as moral instruction. The practice spread, and Mansfield became known for the good education of its young people. Town Mill became Old Town Mill in 1870, when a steam-powered mill was built to the east of the river, which became known as New Town Mill. Stantons Mill, the next downstream, was built in 1795. By 1900, it had been taken over by Luke Weatherall, who made workmen's boots there. The final textile mill on the river in Mansfield at the time was Bath Mill, on Bath Lane, which began operation in 1792 producing worsted cloth. Benjamin Bagshaw, John Radford and George Simes were the men behind the venture, but it was not a success, and the mill had become a cotton mill by 1800, when it also became one of the first locations in the vicinity to install a steam engine. One effect of the conversion of mills for cotton, rather than grinding corn, was that a number of windmills were built, since corn still had to be milled into flour. The number of windmills in Mansfield rose from three to thirteen between 1774 and 1824.

To the south of Mansfield, the Maun is joined by Cauldwell Water at Bleakhills. Charles and George Stanton chose Bleakhills as a suitable site for a new mill in 1795, and negotiated with the Duke of Portland for permission to build both the mill and cottages for the workers. The cost was about £300.

By 1887, most of the textile mills, including Bleakhills Mill, were marked on maps a being "cotton doubling" mills, a process in which multiple strands of cotton were wound together to form thicker threads. In 1899, only Field Mill and Bath Mill were still marked in this way. Most of the rest were then marked "Hosiery", although Stanton Mill was marked "Boot and Shoe".

There were other mills besides the textile mills. Between Field Mill and Town Mill, there was an iron foundry, called Meadow Foundry, which was built by William Bradshaw and John Sansom in 1852. The site had previously been occupied by a water-powered bark mill, and remained in the ownership of the Duke of Portland. In 1867, Bradshaw and Sansom negotiated a new 14-year lease with the Duke, which included the supply of water from King's Mill reservoir, but they became bankrupt during the following year. It was taken over by James Bownes, who formed a limited company to operate it, and it remained in use until 1960, when the firm moved to new premises, and the site was redeveloped by the Mansfield Brewery. Below the foundry was Borough Mills, which operated as a saw mill. Between Town Mills and Stanton Mill was the Rock Valley Mill, which was operated by Dickenson Ellis as a mustard mill in the early nineteenth century. It was taken over by David Cooper Barringer in 1839, who formed Barringer and Company to operate it. In 1873, they decided to pack the mustard in decorated tin boxes, instead of wooden ones, and made the boxes on site from pre-printed metal sheet. Soon they were making tin boxes for other companies, and the separate Rock Valley Tin Works was formed in 1889. Three years later, a printing works was established, to print the metal sheets, and it became a limited company in 1895. Following several takeovers, it remains in business as Carnaud Metal Box Engineering.