Day 2. The Mill Ham

The River Stour, the subject of yesterday's post,  briefly follows two channels as it passes the village. This is a common feature of many smaller rivers, and indicates that a mill once stood on its banks.

Watermills, where fast-flowing water turns a mill-wheel which in turn drives a series of millstones, were common in Britain from Saxon times. The mills were the property of the lord of the manor and all residents were obliged to use them. Those caught grinding their corn at home to escape the fees were fined.

The first known record of a mill in Preston is in 1327; presumably the second channel had been dug by this point. The exact location of the mill is unclear.

A constant and steady supply of water was needed to turn the millwheel. To achieve this, a second branch to the river was often dug. A weir on the 'back brook' – in Preston that furthest from the village – channelled water into the 'front brook' and took away any excess. A mill race ran either side of a second weir on the front brook. The drop in elevation gave a fast flow-rate to turn the mill-wheel.

  

                                       The weir on the front brook. This is of considerable antiquity.

                             The sluice bypassing the weir. This may be the remnants of the former mill-race.

The land between the two streams is called The Ham – pronounced 'hom' in Warwickshire dialect. 'Ham' is an old name for a riverside meadow, deriving from the Old English hamm. It often applies to a meadow by a mill. That in Preston is also shaped like a joint of ham, but this is coincidence.

                                  The Ham

The last record of a functioning mill in Preston is in 1746. A new weir built downstream at Atherstone on Stour in the 1750s reduced the flow-rate and made the millwheel unusable. The mill fell into disuse soon afterwards. No mill was marked on a map drawn c.1760, and none has stood in Preston since.