2019- 2023 Powdermill Lane: Georgian and Victorian Corn Mill
The Powder Mill Lane site forms part of a larger industrial setting in Southborough Valley, with forges, gunpowder works and mills active since the Tudor period through to the 20th Century. Water and associated water management has been a driving and critical part of the development (and demise) of industry within the valley.
The excavation started in 2019 and continued to 2023 (with a break for Covid-19 in 2020) revealing an “L” shaped building with a waterwheel, which was extended in the 1880s. Having identified Mill walls
(at foundation level) we identified numerous brick structures, including brick pillars to support the waterwheel. Over 500 finds have been discovered which include a range of industrial and domestic objects, such as clay pipe stems, glazed pottery and industrial iron implements.
Tithe Map of 1840 –
Site appears as two small buildings above “2566”
1898 OS Map (curtesy of National Museum of Scotland).
Site is now established as a Corn Mill
The 1840 Tithe map shows two small buildings on our Powder Mill Lane site (probably gunpowder works) which were replaced by a later corn mill in 1845, whose development can be traced through map evidence prior to its demolition in 1938.