Sele Mill is a late 19th-century mill building in Hertford, England. It has been converted into apartments. A blue plaque on the building (Plaque #30561 on Open Plaques) commemorates an earlier mill on the site, the country's first paper mill. [1]
Sele Mill is a late 19th-century mill building in Hertford, England. It has been converted into apartments. A blue plaque on the building (Plaque #30561 on Open Plaques) commemorates an earlier mill on the site, the country's first paper mill. [1]
For most of its history, the mill used the power of the River Beane, a chalk stream which joins the River Lea at Hertford. A watermill on this site is mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086 when it was valued at 2 shillings. Sele at this time was a separate manor from Hertford. Its other resources included ploughland and meadow, but it appears to appears to have been a very small settlement: the recorded population was two households. [2]
In the late 15th century it was converted into a paper mill by an entrepreneur called John Tate. As far as is known, this was the first paper mill in the country. Papermills had a reputation for being smelly, but this one was visited by Henry VII. The king, who had given Hertford Castle to his wife in 1487, visited the mill in 1498.
The papermill appears to have gone out of production around 1500, [3] and the facility was used for grinding corn again. The mill was destroyed by fire in 1890 and was rebuilt. The 18th century miller's house survived the fire.
Although water power is no longer used at the site, there is a 20th-century labyrinth weir on the River Beane designed to produce a head of water for the mill race. The River Beane is defined as a heavily modified water body under the Water Framework Directive. There has been a programme of works to improve the ecological health of the river, for example at Woodhall Park, [4] and it has been proposed to modify the weir at Sele Mill which in its current state poses a barrier to fish migration. [5]
Hertford is the county town of Hertfordshire, England, and is also a civil parish in the East Hertfordshire district of the county. The parish had a population of 26,783 at the 2011 census.
The River Lea is in the East of England and Greater London. It originates in Bedfordshire, in the Chiltern Hills, and flows southeast through Hertfordshire, along the Essex border and into Greater London, to meet the River Thames at Bow Creek. It is one of the largest rivers in London and the easternmost major tributary of the Thames.
A paper mill is a factory devoted to making paper from vegetable fibres such as wood pulp, old rags, and other ingredients. Prior to the invention and adoption of the Fourdrinier machine and other types of paper machine that use an endless belt, all paper in a paper mill was made by hand, one sheet at a time, by specialized laborers.
Bengeo is a suburb and former village and civil parish on the north-west edge of the county town of Hertford in Hertfordshire, England. It is an electoral ward of Hertford. In 1891 the parish had a population of 2586. In 1894 the parish was abolished to form Bengeo Rural and Bengeo Urban.
Watton-at-Stone is a village and civil parish in Hertfordshire, England, and is midway between the towns of Stevenage and Hertford in the valley of the River Beane.
The River Mimram is a chalk stream in Hertfordshire, England. It runs from its source near Whitwell in Hertfordshire to join the River Lea at Hertford.
Walkern is a village and civil parish in East Hertfordshire, England. It is about two miles (3 km) from Stevenage.
Aston is a village and civil parish in the East Hertfordshire district of Hertfordshire, England. According to the 2001 census it had a population of 844, increasing to 871 at the 2011 Census. Located on a ridge between Stevenage and the Beane Valley, Aston is a 10 minutes drive from the A1(M).
Hambleden Mill is an historic watermill on the River Thames at Mill End, near the village of Hambleden in Buckinghamshire, England. It is linked by a footbridge to Hambleden Lock, which is on the Berkshire side of the river. It was Grade II listed in 1955 and has now been converted into flats. Alongside the mill is Hambleden Marina which occupies two islands. Along the river frontage to the south-east is the site of a Roman Villa.
The River Beane is a short river in the county of Hertfordshire, England. A tributary of the River Lea, it rises to the south-west of Sandon in the hills northeast of Stevenage and joins the Lea at Hartham Common in Hertford.
The River Whitewater rises at springs near Bidden Grange Farm between Upton Grey and Greywell in Hampshire, England. It flows northeast and is a tributary of the River Blackwater near Swallowfield. Its headwaters flow over chalk and there is little pollution making the River Whitewater rich in wildlife. It was noted on Jansson's map of Hampshire of 1646.
Horns Mill is an area and suburb of south Hertford, Hertfordshire.
Sele Farm is an area on the north-western edge of Hertford, Hertfordshire.
The River Len is a river in Kent, England. It rises at a spring in Bluebell Woods to the southeast of the village centre of Lenham 0.6 miles (0.97 km) from the source of the River Great Stour; both rise on the Greensand Ridge. Its length is c10 miles (16 km). It enters the River Medway at Maidstone.
The Bybrook, also known as the By Brook, is a small river in England. It is a tributary of the Bristol Avon and is some 12 miles (19 km) long. Its sources are the Burton Brook and the Broadmead Brook, which rise in South Gloucestershire at Tormarton and Cold Ashton respectively, and join just north of Castle Combe in Wiltshire. The river has a mean flow rate of 57.25 cubic feet per second (1.621 m3/s) as recorded at Middlehill near Box. A variety of flora and fauna is supported by the river including the endangered white-clawed crayfish. Twenty watermill sites have been identified on the river but none now remain in use.
The River Medway and its tributaries and sub-tributaries have been used for more than 1,150 years as a source of power. There are over two hundred sites where the use of water power is known. Many different processes were performed by the use of water power:- corn milling, fulling, paper making, iron smelting, pumping water, making gunpowder, vegetable-oil extraction, and electricity generation. Today, there is just one watermill working for trade. Those that remain have mostly been converted. Such conversions include a garage, dwellings, restaurants, museums and a wedding venue. Some watermills are mere derelict shells, lower walls or lesser remains. Of the majority, there is nothing to be seen. A large number of tributaries feed into the River Medway. The tributaries that powered watermills will be described in the order that they feed in. The mills are described in order from source to mouth. Left bank and right bank are referred to as though the reader is facing downstream. This article deals with the watermills on the tributaries that feed in below Yalding.
Hertingfordbury is a small village in Hertfordshire, England, close to the county town of Hertford. It was mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086. Hertingfordbury is also the name of a neighbouring civil parish, which does not contain the village. Hertingfordbury village is within the Castle ward of Hertford Town Council. The population of the civil parish as of the 2021 census was 689.
The Roman River is a river that flows entirely through the English county of Essex. It is a tributary of the River Colne, flowing into its tidal estuary below Colchester. The lower end of the Roman River is also tidal, with tidal water flowing upstream to just above Fingringhoe.
Woodhall Park is a Grade I listed country house near Watton-at-Stone, Hertfordshire, England. The 18th century neo-classical building is set in a walled park in the Beane valley. It has been the home of Heath Mount School since the 1930s.
John Tate was the first English papermaker and was active in the second half of the 15th century. According to the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography he was born about 1448. A businessman based in London, he was a member of the Mercers Company.