Exploring Kent's Past

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Monument details

Summary

Former site of Walkers Seed Mill, Limekiln Street, Dover, first established in the late 18th/early 19th century. The factory was burnt down in a fire in 1960 and levelled. (location accurate to the nearest 10m based on available information)

Monument Types

• CHEMICAL WORKS (CHEMICAL WORKS, Post Medieval to Modern - 1793 AD? to 1960 AD?)
• FACTORY (Post Medieval to Modern - 1793 AD? to 1960 AD?)
• OIL MILL (OIL MILL, Post Medieval to Modern - 1793 AD? to 1960 AD)
• PAPER MILL (PAPER MILL, Post Medieval to Modern - 1793 AD? to 1960 AD?)

Full description

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The seed mill at this site was first opened by Peter Becker (sometime between 1793 and 1812) it was operated by only the second steam engine to be used in Dover and therefore a wonder of technology. The engine was powered by a specially built aquifer, the water being provided by the West Dover Waterworks, owned by Joseph Walker who was related to James Walker – the managing partner of Messrs Walker’s Dolphin Lane brewery. It was James Walker who, in 1808, had installed the first steam engine in Dover in his brewery. In 1816, the mill was bought by Joseph Walker, who converted it into the extraction of oil from seeds to make lighting fuel and oilcake for horses and cattle. Robert Walker succeeded Joseph and the business proved profitable and he expanded the works westwards along Limekiln Street to Finnis Hill. (1)

The mill was burnt down 1853 in a large fire which also destroyed many of the surrounding houses, it was subsequently and rebuilt. A Cotton seed oil refinery built adjacent in 1880 but closed in 1887. Site cleared. A chimney for the mill was constructed part of the way up the cliff behind. (2)

In January 1999 Kent Archaeological Rescue Unit carried out a watching brief during redevelopment of the site as a workshop and welfare facility. 4 millstones composed of granite and quartz/limestone each c.1.8m diameter and 40cm thick were discovered as were two wells but other structures at the site did not survive well. (3)

A mill is visible in this location on numerous historic OS maps dating to the later 19th and early 20th century (4-7)

Brace, H. W., 1960, History of Seed Crushing in Great Britain (Monograph). SKE7972.

<1> Lorraine Sencicle, 2014, The Dover Historian - Oil Mills (Website). SKE32105.

<2> Brace, H. W., 1960, History of Seed Crushing in Great Britain, Brace 1960 hist Seed Crushing in GB p 105 (Monograph). SKE7972.

<3> Kent Archaeological Rescue Unit, 1999, Limekiln Street, Dover - report on an archaeological watching brief (Unpublished document). SKE6615.

<4> Landmark, Ordnance Survey 1:2,500 map (OS 1st edition 1862-1875): Landmark Epoch 1 (Map). SKE30964.

<5> Landmark, Ordnance Survey 1:2,500 map (OS 2nd Edition, 1897-1900): Landmark Epoch 2 (Map). SKE30965.

<6> Landmark, 1907-1923, Ordnance Survey 1:2,500 map (OS 3rd Edition, 1907-1923): Landmark Epoch 3 (Map). SKE30966.

<7> Landmark, Ordnance Survey 1:2,500 map (OS 4th Edition, 1929-1952): Landmark Epoch 4 (Map). SKE30967.

Sources and further reading

Related records