Exploring Kent's Past

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Monument details

Summary

The site of Charlton Mill and Mill Dam is visible in this location on historic maps dating to the end of the 19th and early 20th centuries. Though documentary sources suggest there has been a mill at this location since the Saxon period. This example is the 1850's replacement which ground corn until it was destroyed in a fire during the Second World War. (location accurate to the nearest 10m based on available information)

Monument Types

• CORN MILL (Demolished, Post Medieval to Modern - 1850 AD to 1944 AD)
• MILL DAM (Post Medieval to Modern - 1850 AD? to 1944 AD?)

Full description

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The site of Charlton Mill and Mill Dam is visible in this location on historic maps dating to the end of the 19th and early 20th centuries. (1-4) A mill opposite the Church on the Dour had existed since Saxon times but was demolished in 1850 and a new flour mill built. This was owned by the Dover Aerated Bread Company until they went into liquidation in 1865. George Chitty bought the mill, retaining the name Aerated Bread Company, but supplemented the River Dour water wheel with a 200 horsepower steam engine. For this a water tower was built to feed the boilers. With modifications to both the mill and their products the firm was so successful that they largely rebuilt the mill in 1906 and opened warehouses at Granville Dock. However, during World War II the water tower was used as a target by enemy guns and on 2 September 1944, a shell exploded on the roof and a hot piece of shrapnel lodged in the roof timbers and smouldered. By the time the fire brigade arrived, the roof was well alight. The mill never re-opened but the company was still in business for quite a long time after. (5)

<1> Landmark, Ordnance Survey 1:2,500 map (OS 1st edition 1862-1875): Landmark Epoch 1 (Map). SKE30964.

<2> Landmark, Ordnance Survey 1:2,500 map (OS 2nd Edition, 1897-1900): Landmark Epoch 2 (Map). SKE30965.

<3> Landmark, 1907-1923, Ordnance Survey 1:2,500 map (OS 3rd Edition, 1907-1923): Landmark Epoch 3 (Map). SKE30966.

<4> Landmark, Ordnance Survey 1:2,500 map (OS 4th Edition, 1929-1952): Landmark Epoch 4 (Map). SKE30967.

<5> Lorraine Sencicle, 2016, The Dover Historian - Dour River - Part I an Historical Overview (Website). SKE51679.

Sources and further reading