Building record 0284200000 - TOWN MILL, PREBEND END

Summary

Late eighteenth century watermill dated 1782 on the site of a Domesday and later mill, converted to university use in 1981 and re-named Tanlaw Mill

Protected Status/Designation

Conservation Area: Buckingham Conservation Area

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Type and Period (5)

CORN MILL (19th Century to Modern - 1800 AD to 1999 AD)
FULLING MILL (18th Century to 19th Century - 1700 AD to 1899 AD)
WATERMILL (Dated 1782, 18th Century to 19th Century - 1700 AD to 1899 AD)
STUDENTS UNION (Altered 1981, 20th Century - 1900 AD to 1999 AD)
REFECTORY (Altered 1981, 20th Century - 1900 AD to 1999 AD)

Description

Dimensions - Length 38m, Width 10m.
'Fulling Mill' marked on Jefferys' and Bryant's county maps in 1788 & 1825 approx at NGR (B1).
OS marks 'Town Mills (Corn)' at NGR (B2).
Directory entries suggest ceased using water power c.1911 (B5).
Mid-C19 mill building survives, converted to provide accomodation for University of Buckingham. Machinery gone (B4).
Detailed historical notes and 1930s condition. Was part of a factory in 2006 (B6).
At the heart of the University of Buckingham's campus is the Tanlaw Mill (originally called the Town Mill), which occupies the site of an ancient mill mentioned in the Doomsday Book. Speed's map of 1610 indicates a mill on this site, as does Jeffery's map of 1770 where it is described as a fulling mill. By the late 19th century the mill was in the ownership of the Bucks Direct Dairy Supply Company, who also owned the Chandos Road Buildings and was used as a cornmill. In 1981 the University of Buckingham purchased and converted the building. This is a local building of note within the Conservation Area of Buckingham (B7).
Town Mill had two large water wheels driving six pairs of stones. A datestone on the east wall 'WK 1782' relates to William King, a miller and dyer. On Jefferys' map the mill is marked as a fulling mill, suggesting that William King had fulling stocks for finishing cloth, as well as millstones for grinding corn (B8).

Sources (9)

---SBC21394 Aerial Photograph: Mike Farley. 1992. 1992 oblique AP by Mike Farley. SP69443370. Yes.
<1>SBC6745 Map: JEFFREYS T 1788 MAP OF BUCKS (INSET MAP OF BUCKING HAM TOWN)/BRYANT A 1825 MAP OF BUCKS.
<2>SBC10276 Bibliographic reference: OS 1880/85 6IN (1:10560) 1ST EDITION.
<3>SBC20462 Bibliographic reference: William Page (ed). 1925. A History of Buckinghamshire (Victoria County History) Volume III. Volume 3. pp285-286.
<4>SBC578 Bibliographic reference: ARP 1983 (AUGUST) FIELD VISIT.
<5>SBC6975 Bibliographic reference: Kelly's Directories Ltd. KELLY'S DIRECTORY OF BUCKS (1911).
<6>SBC23045 Bibliographic reference: Michael Farley, Edward Legg and James Venn (eds). 2007. The Watermills of Buckinghamshire: A 1930s account by Stanley Freese with original photographs. p17.
<7>SBC23656 Bibliographic reference: Aylesbury Vale District Council. 2005. Buckingham Conservation Area. p74.
<8>SBC19618 Bibliographic reference: Julian Hunt. 1994. Buckingham: A Pictorial History.. ppx, xvi, xxiii, plates 25, 60-61.

Location

Grid reference	SP 69452 33524 (point)
Civil Parish	BUCKINGHAM, Aylesbury Vale, Buckinghamshire