Madge Heath has been
researching the history and structure of Shirley
Mill in great depth. Her sources include the
Hampshire Record Office, Southampton Archives and
the Southampton Library.
The first mention
she discovered for the mill is in Domesday in 1086,
where the manor included 12 households, 8
ploughlands, 16 oxen for ploughing, 12 acres of
meadows, woodlands (rent 6 pigs), 1 fishery, 1
church and 1 mill, valued at 2 shillings and 5
pence. After William the Conqueror's victory the
Manor passed to Ralph de Mortimer and Madge has
traced the various owners, including Winchester
Priory, landlords and tenants of the mill over the
last 950 years.
The water supply for
the mill came through a leat from the Hollybrook and
Tanner’s Brook streams which confluence at the mill
site. There were 3 ponds, one of which was the
fishery, but all 3 seem to have been used by the
mill. It is now difficult to trace the route of the
leat as the roads have been widened since it was
first created.
The mill has changed
roles during its existence including being rebuilt
several times on various alignments. It has been a
corn-mill and a forge or ironworks which produced
edged tools and imported coal and bar iron, both for
use and sale to customers in the area. By 1863 it
was a flour mill again using both water and steam
engines for power.
Alongside the mill
was another building used as a brewery and a
maltings. There was an ice-house in the grounds.
In 1937 the mill was
turned into 4 flats until it was demolished in 1965.
The lecture was
given to a large audience of members of the Shirley
Local History Group, which grew out of, and is
affiliated to the Friends of St James’ Park (and
some visitors from HMG). The local residents were
very knowledgeable having memories of ‘old’ Shirley
and useful information for the meeting.
We hope that Madge
will be able to turn her lecture into a paper to be
published by the Hampshire Papers or a Southampton
or Shirley equivalent.
