The Mill on the Cam

Hauxton Mill, just south of Cambridge, was the last commercially-operating water mill in the area. It ceased operation just over 40 years ago.

I walk past it regularly with my dog, and it’s always been a mysterious, intriguing, and very closed, building.

Hauxton Mill

Until today. As we approached, I noticed that the door stood ajar, and it turned out to be because a man was inside checking the electricity meter. (I was struck by the irony.) He was just about to leave, but kindly let me stick my head inside. It was one of those moments when I was very glad I happened to be carrying my camera, even though I only had time to fire off a couple of quick shots.

Hauxton Mill

If only, as they say, these walls could speak…

Mill trolley, Hauxton Mill

(Click for larger versions)

Update – I later tweaked one of the photos and posted an improved version here.

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3 Comments

Very lucky indeed. love the photo’s!

Thanks, Chris!

Here’s another bit of trivia. It seems likely that this mill, or rather, one that stood upon this site, was the one referred to in Chaucer’s The Reeve’s Tale:

At Trumpington, not fer fro Cantebridge,
There goth a brook, and over that a bridge,
Upon the whiche brook there stant a melle”

There was a mill in Trumpington, but it didn’t stand by a brook, so it seems likely that, if Chaucer had a real-life model for his mill, it was probably here, being very close to Trumpington.

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