Kirkby Malzeard & Laverton

The Old Mill. Bottom of Church Bank

I believe the building marked ‘99’ is an older Mill shown on this map of 1600
Text from the Mechanics Log Book 1893.

The old Corn Mill at the bottom of the Church Bank – 70 years ago it was a very old custom at other mills as well as this to send out two or three times a week a man called a ‘cadger’, with horse and cart to canvas the farmers in the district for bolls of corn to grind for the family use. That which he brought in one day he took back the next and then continued his further solicitations. It was also a very old custom at that time to pay for the grinding by Moulter, that is to say the miller took so much out of each poke as paid him for the job which caused the not very pleasing reflexion to be cast upon him that everyone knew that millers always had some good fat pigs, but no one knew whose poke they were fed out of. And further if ever you meet with an honest miller you will find a tuft of hair growing up the palm of his hand.
Col. Cathcart having purchased the property it was done away with in the year 1875. The buildings by the beckside above the bridge were built by Mr Lysaught whose property it was when he resided at the Hall. Col. Cathcart has improved and ornamented it much since that time. He has also improved and ornamented the Porter’s Lodge opposite side of the way.

Map from 1890
‘Reproduced with the permission of the National Library of Scotland’
Text from a booklet produced for an ‘Exhibition of Local History’ which was held at the 1983 church fete.

Even a stream as small as Kex Beck could power a water mill capable of grinding corn. The small streams and rivers in this area had many mainly used for corn, but some, as at Mickley and Bishopton, used for fulling cloth or as a ‘bobbin’ mill. Now-a-days most are in ruins, though Commander Evans at Gate Bridge has restored the old mill there so that we can see how it works, and hear the sounds of lapping water and slowly moving machinery that were once a common background to village life. There were also mills at Azerley, Winksley, Galphay and seven mills in Ripon. They fell into disuse when steam mills and factories developed. Some were put to later use.
Swinton Mill saws wood for the Swinton Estate, and Kirkby Malzeard mill generated electricity for Mowbray House before the national supply reached the village. The dam for the mill pond is at Longswales; the mill race can be traced alongside the river to the mill at the bottom of Church Bank; and the tail race went under the road and rejoined the stream. The old slates were replaced with modern roofing in the 1950’s, and the building is now a garage, and the mill cottages deserted. They were inhabited well within living memory, and a rose taken there from a previous house by the Metcalfes was left with them when the Metcalfes moved to their house on Church Street. It is customary to take favourite plants, especially roses, from dwelling to dwelling; and Dallowgill roses are blooming on housing estates in Ripon. Within the last decade decade there were people living in Winksley who could remember the miller from Gate Bridge’s cart fetching and delivering, and who cooked with flour ground at the local mill.
Milling often went in families, William Briggs was the miller in 1812, and the Baptism records show that a Francis Briggs has held the same position in 1781.
In 1861 John Beck,aged 54 was the miller. He had a family of three sons, two of whom were also millers, and three daughters. Other milling families in the Parish in the 19th century were John Bastow 1813, Moses Walker 1814, Peter Keaton 1814, George Wren 1819, John Miller (Gate Bridge) 1823, W. Bollard 1826, F. Helsley 1827, Richard Roster 1832, William Granger 1877, Anthony Lobley (Galphay) 1889, and David Suttill.

Stone showing the benefactor, Colonel The Hon. Augustus Murray Cathcart 1875, the date he rebuilt the Mill
Extract from Rambles with a Rambler by Thomas Thirkill. Date circa 1931/2.

We now come down a steep bank with the gardens and lodge of Mowbray Hall on our right, and at the bottom of the hill of our left we have what’s left of the old Mill which, until a recent period had a large mill wheel, water driven, and which the present owner replaced with a turbine for lighting and sawmill purposes. Originally this was a busy corn grinding mill, employing many hands. To here it was the farmers in the surrounding district brought their produce to be ground in payment for which service there was a certain amount retained by the Mill. This system led to many disputes. The power for driving the Mill (and even present machinery) was derived from water diverted from higher up the stream that flows under the bridge a few yards further on. This stream was originally known as ‘Kesbeck’, and now known as the ‘Kex’. After flowing through the Mill and doing the work of driving the huge millwheel, the water returned to re-join the steam in the grounds of Mowbray Hall on the right.