Maesbury, Shropshire

Maesbury Mills

A chronology of the mills:

1086 - the Domesday Book made no mention of a mill at Maesbury. They were recorded elsewhere so we can be sure that Maesbury did not have one.

1407 - the newly created Oswestry School was endowed with land in the area, including "a corn mill at Maesbury". The map right is from 1839, showing the bottom of Maesbury Road (now Ball Lane). The original bridge, by the mill, has now been replaced by one at the top of the pond.

It is not currently known when the mill was first built, but clearly between 1086-1407.

1500-1700 - Ball Mill was built and the Wat's Dyke road diverted around it.

The map right is adapted from the one of 1839, showing how the area probably looked in the 18th century.

1795 - the canal arrived through Maesbury. At this time Maesbury Hall was already quite old, and owned by the Frank family who were later at Rhydairy, or possibly different branches of the family owning both. The opportunity for a new mill was quickly realised and the Morda was diverted, but this was a much more substantial engineering feat than the older mills. The map below is from 1890, but little changed today apart from the warehousing in the loop of the canal arm: 1846 - the Peate family arrived at Maesbury Hall, apparently having previously owned the mill further up the Morda at Weston. There is a tendency to refer to the Maesbury Hall Mill as 'Peate's Mill' which is rather confusing as the family did not build the mill, they were not in continual residence there and, at various times, owned both of the other mills. 1851 Census
Maesbury Mill Thomas Jones, head, married, 41, miller & proprietor of house, b.Salop Susan Jones, wife, 49, b.Liverpool	Ball Mill Ellis Davies, head, married, 41, miller, b.Llanyblodwell Mary Davies, wife, married, 53, b.Montgomeryshire Edward Davies, son, 11, b.Maesbury Ellis Davies, son, 9, b.Maesbury Job Lodwick Lea, servant, unmarried, 20, miller, b.Maesbury	Maesbury Hall Mill John Peate, head, unmarried, 24, farmer 38 acres with Millers, employing 5 labourers, b.Montgomeryshire Sarah Peate, sister, unmarried, 30, b.Montgomeryshire Edward Peate, brother, 22, unmarried, b.Oswestry Jane Morgan, servant, unmarried, 16, b.Oswestry
1861 Census
Maesbury Mill Edward Peate, head, married, 32, miller & corn dealer, b.Oswestry Mary Peate, wife, 26, b.Llansantfraid, Mont. Emily E. Peate, daughter, 2, b.Oswestry Edwin A. Peate, son, 1, b.Oswestry Edward L. Peate, son, 1 month, b.Oswestry Mary Griffiths, servant, unmarried, 27, housemaid, b.Llansantfraid, Mont. Eliza Lloyd, servant, unmarried, 14, nurse maid, b.Guilsfiled, Mont.	Ball Mill Job Lea, head, unmarried, 53, miller of corn & dealer, employer of 5 men, b.Flintshire Margaret Williams, niece, 18, housekeeper, b.Chirk Charles Williams, nephew, unmarried, 16, servant (miller) b.Chirk Peter Morris, servant, unmarried, 19, b.Flintshire	Maesbury Hall Mill John Peate, head, married, 35, miller of corn & flour dealer, b.Montgomeryshire Ann Peate, wife, married, 27, b.Oswestry John Evans, brother in law, unmarried, 26, miller's clerk, b.Oswestry Elizabeth Owens, servant, unmarried, 28, domestic servant, b.Alberbury Ann Jones, servant, unmarried, 19, domestic servant, b.Oswestry
1861 to 1871 - the superior location of the new Maesbury Hall Mill made it difficult for the old Maesbury Mill to compete, and it switched to grinding Barytes for paint and varnish, hence it became the Paint Mill. F. A. Mason* describes the process: The basic substance used in the paint process was a mineral, white spar barytes mined on the slopes of the Stiperstones near Snailbeach in Shropshire and before being ground into a fine powder it had to be washed and dried in kilns, probably steam heated as there is a mention of steam power. Certain oils were added to produce paint. . . . The spar was transported by rail to either the Oswestry or Llynclys railway station and then by horse and cart to the mill . . . by-products paraffin and turpentine . . great improvements on the use of candles for lighting. 1871 Census
Paint Mill Edward Peate, head, married, 41, paint manufacturer, b.Oswestry Mary Peate, wife, married, 36, b.Llanfechain Mont Edwin A.Peate, son, 11, scholar, b.Oswestry Edward L.Peate, son, 10, scholar, b.Oswestry Letty? Peate, daughter, 11 months? b.Oswestry Elizabeth Gallifer, servant, 12, serv of mill master? b.Oswestry Margaret Currie? servant, 14, nurse b.?	Ball Mill John Peate, head, married, 45, miller of 2 acres emp 3 men, b.Llanfechain, Mont. Ann Peate, wife, married, 38, b.Oswestry Ann E. Brown, servant, 15, general servant, b.Oswestry	Maesbury Hall Mill Thomas Bather, head, married, 42, miller, b.Salop Emma Bather, wife, married, 36, b. Pool Quay, Mont. William Bather, son, 8, b. scholar, b.Maesbury Edith A, Bather, daughter, 5, scholar, b.Maesbury Mary E. Bather, daughter, 3, b.Maesbury Hannah Jones, servant, unmarried, 19, nurse, b.?
1881 Census
Paint Mill Mary Peate, head, married, 46, paint manufacturer, b.Llansantfraid, Mont. Edwin E. Peate, son, unmarried, 21, paint manufacturer's clerk, b.Oswestry Edward L. Peate, son, unmarried, 20, corn miller, b.Oswestry Mary L. Peate, daughter, unmarried, 18, b.Oswestry Jessie P. Peate, daughter, 10, scholar, b Oswestry	Ball Mill Thomas Hughes, head, married, 57, master miller of 21 acres emply 6 men, b.St Martins Eleanor Hughes, wife, married, 55, b.Whittington Sarah E. Hughes, daughter, 16, scholar, b.St. Martins Thomas E. Hughes, son, 13, scholar, b.St. Martins William H. Hughes, son, 11, scholar, b.Oswestry Elizabeth Humphreys, servant, unmarried, 26, general servant, b.Mont.	Maesbury Hall Mill Thomas Bather, head, married, 52, miller, b.St. Chads Emma Bather, wife, married, 44, b.Welshpool Emma Bather, daughter, unmarried, 23, b.Kinnerley William Bather, son, unmarried, 18, corn miller's clerk, b.Maesbury Edith Bather, daughter, 15, scholar, b.Maesbury Eveline Bather, daughter, 13, scholar, b.Maesbury Elizabeth Phillips, servant, 14, general servant, b.Morton
1890 - Maesbury Hall Mill was converted to run by steam, instead of the water mill. 1891 Census
Paint Mill Edward Peate, head, married, 62, paint manufacuter, employer, b.Oswestry Mary Peate, wife, married, 56, b.Llansantfraid, Mont. Emily E. Peate, daughter, single, 32, b.Oswestry Mary L. Peate, daughter, single, 28, b.Oswestry Jessie P. Peate, daughter, single, 20, b.Oswestry Katie M. Lewis, visitor, single 17, b.Llansantfraid, Mont.	Ball Mill Thomas Bather, head, manrried, 63, corn miller & farmer, employer, b.Salop Emma Bather, daughter, single, 35, daury maid, b.Kinnerley William Bather, son, single, 28, miller & farmer, b.Maesbury Hall Edith A. Bather, daughter, single, 25, house maid, b.Maesbury Hall Margaret E. Bather, daughter, single, 23, cook, b.Maesbury Hall	Maesbury Hall Mill Andrew Peate, head, single, 25, corn miller, b.Oswestry Mary Peate, mother, widow, 56, living on own means, b.Oswestry Albert E. Peate, brother, single, 22, corn miller, b.Owestry Edith A. Peate, sister, single, 20, b.Oswestry Mary E. Roberts, servant, single, 25, general domestic servant, b.Denbighshire
1901 Census
Paint Mill Mary A. Peate, head, widow, 65, barytes manufacturer, employer, b.Llansaintfraind. Emily E. Peate, daughter, single, 40, b.Oswestry Edward L. Peate, son, single, 38, barytes manufacturer, worker, b.Oswestry Edward H. Lee, grandson, single, 9, b.Gobowen, Salop.	Ball Mill Thomas Hughes, head single, 33, corn miller & farmer, employer, b.St. Martins Sarah E. Hughes, sister, single, 35, b.St. Martins Ellen Fardoe, -, single, 19, housemaid (domestic) b.Oswestry Joseph Phillips, servant, single, 13, cow boy ag cattle, b.Oswestry John Parry, servant, single, 22, miller's wagoner, b.Montgomeryshire	Maesbury Hall Mill Mary Peate, head, widow, 66, living on own means, bOswestry Albert E. Peate, son, single, 32, flour miller, employer, b.Oswestry Edith A. Peate, daughter, single, 30, b.Oswestry

1905 - the Paint Mill closed. The building is now gone, replaced by a pair of semi-detached houses between Paint Mill Cottage and the Morda. The mill pond, on the corner of Ball Lane and the bridge to Gwern y Brenin, was filled in but the site is still there and could be restored as a pond fairly easily.

1966 - Ball Mill ceased to operate. This is the only surviving mill and could be restored for educational purposes . . .

1971 - a fire destroyed the Maesbury Hall Mill. Production of animal feeds continued, this had been a by-product of the mill (bran from the flour), until that too was destroyed by fire in 2002. The site is now used for warehousing, and by Maesbury Marine Services, for building canal boats.

Some photos of the mills from January 2006. Click on the graphics for bigger pictures:

The former Maesbury mill pond, at the bottom of Ball Lane looking towards Pool Cottage, now overgrown and derelict, but could be restored.	The driveway from Maesbury House, also looking towards Pool Cottage. The original drive was between the trees on the left. The mill pond is on the right.
Ball Mill, the buidling appears to be in three sections with the oldest at the far end and the most recent nearest the camera.	The mill race emerging from under the newest part of the building.

*A Little Bit of Shropshire: The Village of Maesbury, 1800-1930 by F. A. Mason, published by Gee & Son, Denbigh, November 2000, ISBN 07074 0350 2.