Background information
Between Kersey and Layham there used to be five watermills; Kersey, Aldham Mill Hill, Bridge Street, Toppesfield and Layham, all driven by the River Brett. The Toppesfield Mill burned down in 1954.
In March 2021, following heaving snowfall and adverse weather a sinkhole formed at Tinkers Lane where the site of the old Toppesfield Mill was. This revealed an 11ft-deep void, with the lower 7ft full of water. It was fenced off to the public and Babergh District Council (BMSDC) since investigated the site and have come across a number of interesting discoveries, uncovering a large cogs wheel, a bridge and an old mill wheel, along the line of the old mill race, which is 14ft long and 10ft diameter (from the Toppesfield Mill).
Since March/April 2021 it has been pretty much silent in terms of any progress until the March 2023 Invest In Hadleigh Board meeting. Fiona Duhamel, Director for Economic Development and Climate Change at BMSDC, reported that the old Mill Wheel has been thought about by Babergh over the time and there are two options that could be taken forward:
- concrete over it as a preservation measure but which would render it un-viewable;
- work in partnership to gather funding and establish the ruins as a heritage feature for the town.
The issue that BMSDC has is that there needs to be a local group or organisation to lead on the project in terms of funding applications to push forward and resource for managing the project as their teams are just not able to schedule into their workloads. It was suggested that the Town Council would be the ideal partner, with BMSDC’s support.
Option 1 was reported to Hadleigh Town Council as not to be the most sensitive solution as it would hide the feature and input concrete into the natural grounds which is a negative environmental consideration. Comments made on Facebook, see end of this report for examples, support option 2 and the town council agreed to this in a meeting in March 2023.
Note: water power generation is a separate issue at Tinkers Lane and will be investigated by Babergh independently of the heritage preservation and requires a feasibility study.
Several comments on Facebook by members of the public in response to the unearthing suggested it be excavated and would look good as a heritage feature on show, such as:
“It would be nice to see them on show near the site like the original bridge at Bridge st”
“…they are part of Hadleigh’s Heritage and would look fantastic on display,let’s make a feature of them”
“t’s such a shame that we won’t be able to see any of this. I’d love to see the brickwork of the old mill and the mill wheels. How nice it would be if some of the finds could be put on display in a heritage centre or museum.”
“I’d love to see the channel open again and flowing. Could use the old arch as a bridge, and install flood gates to control the flow when needed.”
“I really hope the parts are removed to go on display. Hadleigh has such a. Rich history, we should be showing it off not covering it up, or burying it!!”
“I’m so glad they are looking at preserving the finds”
“Hadleigh Tinkers Lane Mill wheels exposed – great to see it – maybe good to expose it completely fence it off securely and keep it as a Hadleigh feature ?”
March edition of Hadleigh Community News
26th March 2021 Hadleigh Town Council Facebook Update
TINKERS LANE UPDATE: yesterday (Thursday 25th) Babergh District Council undertook an initial exploratory dig at the Tinkers Lane site.
Where the first hole appeared, they excavated a hole and uncovered a wall and the top of an archway (see image) which appears to be the mill channel where the water formerly exited. The far end had some type of metal rails behind which was brickwork or rubble. The whole structure appeared sound and is acting like a bridge beneath the surface.
The intention is to fill the void as much as possible with concrete to fill the arch and backfill the excavation and compact the ground preventing further subsidence into the void. The historic value of the mill remains will not be compromised by this approach.
The second excavation uncovered the remains of three large mill wheels and surrounding walls seeming to be that on demolition, the mill remains were pushed around the wheels and ground levelled leaving many large hollow voids with lots of metal that could potentially prove more damaging as it corrodes. Because of this major unknown, the intention is to leave the remains in place and create a concrete slab spanning the mill wheels, providing a stable platform above any voids. Further exploratory digs on this section are required to determine the full extent of the condition of the wheels.
Excavations have been filled in to make the area as safe as possible and fencing has been secured to protect the public. It will not be possible to expose any remains so that they are visible to the public.
𝐏𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐨𝐭𝐩𝐚𝐭𝐡 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐜𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐰𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐭𝐨 𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐧 𝐢𝐭 𝐚𝐬 𝐬𝐨𝐨𝐧 𝐚𝐬 𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐛𝐥𝐞. 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐭𝐫𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐚𝐜𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐞 𝐚𝐬 𝐰𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐝𝐨 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐮𝐥𝐥 𝐞𝐱𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤𝐬 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐟𝐞.
30th March 2021 EADT Article
