Flitton’s Mill, Station Road

Flittons Mill, a smock wind mill, stood on Station Road, which was formerly known as Odsey Way. The mill was sometimes referred to as Odsey Way Mill. It was on the north east corner of a block of land allotted to Samuel Flitton in the Steeple Morden Enclosure Award. The Enclosure Award was completed 31 January 1816 and Map dated 1817. There is no mill mentioned in the Award or on the Map and it can be assumed that it was not there then.

In lieu of freehold open fields lands and rights of sheepwalk and common, Samuel Flitton received two allotments on the west side of Odsey Way, stretching across to the Guilden Morden boundary. The first was 38a 1r 5p of freehold land north of Ashwell Street and the second 95a 3r 30p of freehold south of Ashwell Street. This was open farmland with no buildings or farmsteads and the extent is shown by the red line marking the boundaries.

Samuel Flitton was born in 1772 at Bassingbourn and arrived in Steeple Morden upon his marriage to Mary Wilson nee North. When Mary died 3 years later he married Ann North. It appears that his land and rights of common came to him through his wives. He was tenant of the St John’s College Farm, now Hillside Farm, Brook End, prior to 1810 until his death in 1833, when Thomas, his eldest son by his second wife, succeeded him as tenant.

In 1836 Thomas built a house and farm complex on the family’s Odsey Way land, which had been allotted to his father Samuel in the 1816 Enclosure Award. The new farm was in the south-east corner of the 38a 1r 5p allotment adjoining Odsey Way on the east and Ashwell Street on the south. It is likely that the Mill was erected around the same time as the new house and farmstead, were being built. Certainly the Mill is shown on the 1839 Tithe Map and is in the opposite north-east corner of the land adjoining Odsey Way. No house or ancillary buildings are shown associated with the mill on the map. In the Tithe Apportionment 1839 this land is recorded as Homestead Field and no mention is made of the Mill.

It has been said that the mill was moved from Slip End, Ashwell and re-erected. However, the Slip End windmill is recorded as a post mill, although it does appear to have gone out of use around 1833, so the timing is about right. Perhaps some of the gear or stones came from Slip End or the coincidence of timing lead to the wrong conclusion?

The evidence points to the new mill being erected 1837-1838. It was advertised to let in 1843 and described as “newly erected”, which is an expression that requires careful interpretation, when found in sale particulars and legal documents. It does not necessarily mean built yesterday, but rather “not ancient” “in good modern condition” or “built within living memory”. More interestingly, the mill now has a convenient house, good garden and outbuildings, so these have been built 1839-1842.

The Flitton family apparently milled for the rest of the 1800s and through to the 1900s, until in 1913 they put the mill and premises up for sale, apparently without success, as it was advertised again in 1919. This time it was offered for dismantling, as offering many tons of iron, lead, timber, bricks etc.

The mill appears to have been worked until 1922 and Thomas Daniel Flitton the last miller died in 1925. Around that time the mill and land were acquired by the Saunderson family, who owned and operated the only other mill in the parish, so there was little prospect of Flitton’s Mill working again! Indeed, some sources describe it as derelict by 1925, The late John Jarman, who was born next door in 1926, said in 2010 that he had no recall of the mill standing in his lifetime, although he had strong memories of playing as a child on the original brick and cement base of the mill, upon which sat the mill cap, with its distinctive ball top. It remained there for many years.

The evidence suggests that the mill was taken down around 1922-1925.

Millers over the years – names as shown in sources

Life after The Mill

The Mill House, which had been built about 1840 was retained and let. At some point it was split into two dwellings. The part on the south became No 1 Mill House and the other No 2 Mill House. At the time of parish house numbering scheme in 1969, No 2 became No 62 Station Road and No 1 became No 64.

These are preliminary lists of occupants of the two properties:

2 Mill House No 62 Station Road

1 Mill House No 64 Station Road

The Old Mill or The Bungalow No 66 Station Road

This bungalow was built in the grounds of the mill to the south of the Mill House, in the early 1960s to house Lila Crutch, who was the sister in law and sister of Theodore and Margaret Saunderson the owners, who lived across the road at the Odsey Way Poultry Farm.  Lila lived there from at least 1965 and up to her death 14 July 1977. It appears not to have been occupied thereafter. It was a fairly basic dwelling.

Flitton’s Mill – The Final Chapter

The Mill House, Nos 62 and 64 were last let in 1988 and thereafter, the entire plot was left to decay until the last of this Saunderson line, Richard died 20 April 2010 and the land was put up for sale in 2011.

The land with its buildings was bought on 9 December 2011 by Gordon Stewart Lund and Olga Feodorovna Lund of Walkern Park Farm, Clay End, Walkern, for £481,500.

The original Mill House, illustrated below, bungalow and barn were demolished. Two new semi-detached houses (Nos 62 and 64) were built at the front of the plot and sold in 2018 and set back a large eco-friendly house (No 66) was erected 2015-2016 and sold in 2019.

A chicken shed, surviving from the poultry farm days, lying further back on the plot, was sold with 1.5 acres and converted by the new owners to a modern one storey house (No 60) in 2019-2020.

The new individual properties have their own pages, where more details are available.      60 Station Road     62 & 64 Station Road

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