
The Chesapeake Mill is a
watermill
A watermill or water mill is a mill that uses hydropower. It is a structure that uses a water wheel or water turbine to drive a mechanical process such as milling (grinding), rolling, or hammering. Such processes are needed in the productio ...
in
Wickham,
Hampshire
Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English citi ...
,
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...
. The
flour mill
A gristmill (also: grist mill, corn mill, flour mill, feed mill or feedmill) grinds cereal grain into flour and middlings. The term can refer to either the grinding mechanism or the building that holds it. Grist is grain that has been separated ...
was constructed in 1820 using the timbers of HMS ''Chesapeake'', which had previously been the
United States Navy
The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...
frigate . The ''Chesapeake'' was attacked and boarded by
HMS ''Leopard'' on 22 June 1807. It was released but the event caused an uproar among Americans (see
Chesapeake–Leopard affair
The ''Chesapeake''–''Leopard'' affair was a naval engagement off the coast of Norfolk, Virginia, on June 22, 1807, between the British fourth-rate and the American frigate . The crew of ''Leopard'' pursued, attacked, and boarded the Ameri ...
). It was
captured on 1 June 1813 by the
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by Kingdom of England, English and Kingdom of Scotland, Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were foug ...
frigate during
War of 1812
The War of 1812 (18 June 1812 – 17 February 1815) was fought by the United States of America and its indigenous allies against the United Kingdom and its allies in British North America, with limited participation by Spain in Florida. It ...
.
In July 1819 the
Commissioners of the Royal Navy put her up for sale at Plymouth.
Joshua Holmes, a
ship breaker
''Ship Breaker'' is a 2010 young adult novel by Paolo Bacigalupi set in a post-apocalyptic future. Human civilization is in decline for ecological reasons. The polar ice caps have melted and New Orleans is underwater. On the Gulf Coast n ...
in Portsmouth, purchased her for £500; he dismantled the ship and sold her timbers for £3,450.
[Winfield (2007), p. 176.] Eventually her timbers became part of the mill.
[Beach (1986), p. 113.] Timbers from the ''Chesapeake'' were bought by John Prior, who was preparing to build a new mill at Wickham. The five main spine beams to each floor, the floor joists, the roof timbers and most of the window lintels are of American
longleaf pine
The longleaf pine (''Pinus palustris'') is a pine species native to the Southeastern United States, found along the coastal plain from East Texas to southern Virginia, extending into northern and central Florida. In this area it is also known as ...
from the ship.
[
The mill remained in operation until 1976 and now serves as a retail centre for antique and gift sellers. It is a Grade II* ]listed building
In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern I ...
.
In 1996 a timber fragment from the Chesapeake Mill was returned to the United States; it is on display at the Hampton Roads Naval Museum
The Hampton Roads Naval Museum is one of ten Navy museums that are operated by the Naval History & Heritage Command. It celebrates the long history of the U.S. Navy in the Hampton Roads region of Virginia and is co-located with Nauticus in dow ...
in Norfolk, Virginia.
In late 2020 another piece of the original frigate was returned to the United States. It was given to the U.S. Navy's Secretary of the Navy
The secretary of the Navy (or SECNAV) is a statutory officer () and the head (chief executive officer) of the Department of the Navy, a military department (component organization) within the United States Department of Defense.
By law, the se ...
, during his visit to England.
References
*
External links
Chesapeake Mill website
{{Shopping centres in Southeast England
Grade II* listed buildings in Hampshire
Shopping centres in Hampshire
Watermills in Hampshire
Industrial buildings completed in 1820
Grade II* listed industrial buildings