Monument record MDR890 - Clifton corn mill, Watery Lane, Clifton and Crompton

The Corn Mill is shown on an OS map of 1887, with a pond on the Henmore Brook and with the tail goit rejoining the brook where it was forded by Watery Lane (now a bridge) (1) The corn mill was built by James Brindley in the shape of the letter 'L' alongside the river Henmore between the railway station and the Henmore bridge on Green Lane. It was built of brick with living accommodation, having cowsheds, pig sty and stable. Over the Mill Race there was a three foot wide wooden footbridge leading to the footpath to Doles Farm. There was a twenty foot deep sluice, a mill wheel and a store. The building was used by local corn merchants for storage for a considerable period. Mr F Harrison (1913) was the last tenant of the residential part. (2) Clifton Mill wheel was probably the site of one of the Ashbourne Shrovetide Football goals (for the Downards) since 1798, although this cannot be proved conclusively. The mill wheel was removed in 1920 and the mill itself was demolished in 1967. Only two views of the mill appear to have survived, one from the railway side, the other showing the wheelhouse and the tail race. (3) The mill is shown on Burdett's survey of 1767 and directories show that Robert Murfin was milling between 1823 and 1829, and Francis Tabenner was miller in 1835 (4) In 1968 the Nestle company erected a memorial in the form of a rough hewn limestone pillar on a concrete plinth with a plaque inscribed 'This stone marks the site of the old Clifton Mill and is one of the goals in the Shrovetide ball game'. (5)