Old maps often have curious things on them, which lead us back to a different age. Join me as I discover what some of these things were, and what is left today.
In this episode I visit Crowborough Warren on Ashdown Forest and the site of the former New Mill, which has now been demolished. This mill, built around 1800, is said to have ground the flour to make the wedding cake for Queen Victoria. I look into the validity of this royal claim to fame.
I also look at the remains of the dam wall that was built to create the huge mill pond and also discover the last remaining packhorse bridge a bit further down stream.
Following creation of this video, I discovered this interesting album in the local Crowborough history group on Facebook: groups/520522518060261/permalink/1846079932171173/
Information was gleaned from the following sources:
Kent and Sussex Courier archive on the British Newspaper Archive website
Forest Camera - A Portrait of Ashdown by Peter Kirby and available from several East Sussex libraries (this book contains many pictures of the area, mostly from the Victorian era and early 20th century and is a fascinating record)
The Sussex Industrial Archaeological Society newsletter from April 1969: www.sussexias.co.uk/newsletters_siasg/newsletter_siasg_3.htm
All the maps shown are available from the National Library of Scotland: maps.nls.uk/ with the exception of the current OS 1:12,500 map, which is briefly shown under Fair Dealing rights.
Please note: It came to light after I had filmed that the land on which the mill was built may be privately owned, and some people have had altercations with a land owner in the area. On the day I filmed I saw no signs and no land owner, and just followed the well trodden path up the side of the stream. Just keep this in mind if you are visiting - I don’t want to upset the land owner and I certainly don’t want any viewers to feel I’ve led you in to an awkward situation.
I'm not an historian, and all my research has been done through the mighty Goggle and the local library. This isn't supposed to be a complete or accurate history by any means, and apologies if there are any clanging factual errors.
26 май 2021
