Stainsby Mill is a 19th-century

flour Flour is a powder made by Mill (grinding), grinding raw grains, List of root vegetables, roots, beans, Nut (fruit), nuts, or seeds. Flours are used to make many different foods. Cereal flour, particularly wheat flour, is the main ingredie ...

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 mill (grinding), milling (grinding), rolling, or hammering. Such processes are needed in ...

Doe Lea Doe Lea is a small, linear village in the English county of Derbyshire. It is in the Bolsover district of the county and falls in the Ault Hucknall civil parish. The village runs along the old A617 road. A newer dual carriageway (currently t ...

, Chesterfield,

Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It borders Greater Manchester, West Yorkshire, and South Yorkshire to the north, Nottinghamshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south-east, Staffordshire to the south a ...

, England. The mill, which has been restored to full working order, is a Grade II

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...

and is under the ownership of the

National Trust The National Trust () is a heritage and nature conservation charity and membership organisation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. The Trust was founded in 1895 by Octavia Hill, Sir Robert Hunter and Hardwicke Rawnsley to "promote the ...

.Stainsby Mill: Hardwick Estate information at the National Trust
/ref> The mill is part of the

Hardwick Hall Hardwick Hall is an architecturally significant Elizabethan architecture, Elizabethan-era country house in Derbyshire, England. A leading example of the Elizabethan prodigy house, the Renaissance architecture, Renaissance style home was bu ...

estate.

History

A mill on this site appears to have existed from the early 13th century. Originally all the water for the mill came from the River Doe Lea which fed the Miller's Pond on the Hardwick estate. By 1762 the Stainsby Pond, fed by the Stainsby Brook, had been constructed and the water also fed into the Mill Pond which was situated on the other side of the road from the mill. Water was allowed into the

mill race A mill race, millrace or millrun, mill lade (Scotland) or mill leat (Southwest England) is the current of water that turns a water wheel, or the channel ( sluice) conducting water to or from a water wheel. Compared with the broad waters of a m ...

by sluice gates under the road.

The current mill

By the 1840s the mill had become dilapidated and

William Cavendish, 6th Duke of Devonshire William George Spencer Cavendish, 6th Duke of Devonshire (21 May 1790 – 18 January 1858), styled Marquess of Hartington until 1811, was an English peer, courtier and Whig politician. Known as the "Bachelor Duke", he served as Lord Chamberlai ...

decided it needed rebuilding and re-equipping. The mill was substantially rebuilt in dressed stone from the Hardwick Estate and fitted with modern machinery, including a diameter breast shot

water wheel A water wheel is a machine for converting the kinetic energy of flowing or falling water into useful forms of power, often in a watermill. A water wheel consists of a large wheel (usually constructed from wood or metal), with numerous b ...

, between 1846 and 1850. It was in operation for a century until it finally closed in 1952. Up till 1865, the millers were members of the Saunders family who had worked the mill since 1689. Subsequently, the tenancy passed into the Hitch family for the rest of its working life, the last miller being William Hitch.

Preservation and restoration

As a result of the death of the 10th Duke of Devonshire in 1950, as part of the Hardwick Estate, the mill was passed to the government in lieu of

death duties International tax law distinguishes between an estate tax and an inheritance tax. An inheritance tax is a tax paid by a person who inherits money or property of a person who has died, whereas an estate tax is a levy on the estate (money and prop ...

. It was given to the National Trust who carried out a partial restoration in 1976. As a result of a report on the mill's future by the Ault Hucknall Environment Group in 1990, a full restoration to working order was commenced in 1991 with the mill being opened to the public again in 1992.

References

External links

Hardwick Estate: Stainsby Mill
– National Trust National Trust properties in Derbyshire Tourist attractions in Derbyshire Watermills in Derbyshire Museums in Derbyshire Mill museums in England 1850 establishments in England {{Derbyshire-geo-stub