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You are here: Home / Travel / Mapledurham House and the Miller – English Artisan Food

Mapledurham House and the Miller – English Artisan Food

December 4, 2012 by Fiona Maclean 15 Comments

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Mapledurham House and Meeting the Miller:

“The Stately Homes of England
How Beautiful they Stand…”

Noel Coward

mapledurham house exterior

Mapledurham House, an Elizabethan stately home in Oxfordshire, has belonged to the same family since 1490. Beautifully renovated by the current owners and inhabitants John and Lady Anne Eyston, it is an amazing testament to the tenacity and strong will of members of the Catholic faith in England.  A recusant house, complete with priest hole, Mapledurham provides a fascinating insight into life for Catholic families during times of persecution  The sort of thing you read about in history books but don’t fully grasp until you see.  A recent trip involved a very short visit to the house itself and a look at the Mill.  The house with all its heritage deserves a longer visit than we had time for on this occasion, but hopefully I will be able to re-visit and write in more detail in the future.  We spent slightly more time in the old mill and I was particularly interested to learn a little about the artisan flour mill and to see some of the machinery.

mapledurham mill

There’s been a watermill here since Domesday and the present Mill dates from 1626.  It was out of operation from 1947 till 1977 when it was restored.  At Mapledurham mill, only one side of the mill itself is operational at the moment and the ancient waterwheel (which you may remember from ‘The Eagle has Landed’) looks rather fragile.  But grain is still processed traditionally, fed into the hopper at the top and then ground between two massive millstones

mapledurham mill - the miller

Now, the miller, Corry Starling isn’t as scary an individual as my photo suggests, in fact he’s rather a friendly chap who explained that after working for the National Trust for some years and then moving to Mapledurham , he took over a lease for the Watermill this year.  As the only remaining working watermill on the River Thames, Mapledurham has a special place in the artisan food world and, the mill house aims to encourage visitors to learn more about traditional flour milling.

mapledurham mill with bella

I was fascinated by the bell on the side of the millstone.  It’s the only way that the miller knows when the grain is running low – kept out of contact with the ‘damsel’ part of the main machinery by a strap held down by the weight of grain.  As the grain is processed and the weight reduced the strap is released and the bell falls against the ‘damsel’ and rings.

mapledurham mill - inside

At that point the miller needs to halt the grinding.  He explained that if the millstones continued to grind without grain, it could potentially cause a fire as well as destroying the carefully dressed millstones.

mapledurham the old mill wheel

Beside the flour mill, where you can book a morning and try milling yourself, there’s a small shop with various flours and semolina/bran mixes on sale together with recipes and baking packs.  And outside, an amazing and very modern device for generating electricity for the estate.  The Archimedes screw turbine is similar to the ones used by the Queen at Windsor but, at least to me, a considerably more subtle addition to the landscape than, for example, wind turbines. And it should produce 500,000 kW hours per annum!

mapledurham archimedes screw electricity generator

With many thanks to John and Lady Anne for the brief introduction to Mapledurham and to the Miller for the short but fascinating tour of the mill.  Both the Mill and the house itself are worthy of a visit, the former to understand a little more about artisan food production in the UK and the latter for the role the house has played in English History.  And of course, both are great examples of the beauty and charm of rural England.

Mapledurham House is open at weekends during the Summer.  In addition the Watermill only is open in the mornings on the first and third Sundays of the month. Please check the main Mapledurham site for exact opening times before visiting.

Filed Under: Travel, UK Tagged With: Artisan, Artisan Food, Oxford, Stately Home

About Fiona Maclean

London based freelance writer and marketing consultant. I edit London-Unattached.com and write for a number of other publications. With a music degree and a background in marketing across many sectors, my passions include all types of music, food, restaurants, wine and travel

Comments

  1. Evelyn Wallace says

    January 24, 2014 at 2:53 am

    Thanks for the wonderful write up on Mapledurham Mill. If you don’t mind I’m going to put a link to this entry on my own entry on southeast Oxfordshire manor and halls. Very well done !

    The Castle Lady ; )

    Reply
    • Fiona Maclean says

      January 24, 2014 at 9:02 am

      thats fine, thank you for commenting and for asking – best wishes xx

      Reply
  2. Galina V says

    September 7, 2013 at 9:42 am

    I visited Mapledurham many years ago, such a beautiful location. The miller in the photo looks like a younger John Malkovich. 😉

    Reply
    • Fiona Maclean says

      September 7, 2013 at 10:15 am

      it’s odd though he was quite a smiley person, the only photo I had of him makes him look quite evil!!!

      Reply
  3. Mary @ Green Global Travel says

    August 19, 2013 at 12:50 am

    I am in awe of this 400 year old mill and thrilled to read that it is still being used to mill artisan flours! Your description of the mill and particularly of the bell and it’s unexpectedly important function were greatly appreciated. Mapledurham is impressive!

    Reply
    • Fiona Maclean says

      August 19, 2013 at 7:55 am

      mapledurham is somewhere you should visit if you come over to the UK, it’s a lovely old house where the renovation was entirely funded by the family enterprise! It is used in numerous film sets and is a truly stunning building

      Reply
  4. sivas says

    February 16, 2013 at 1:59 pm

    it is really interesting and lovely :)))

    Reply
  5. Cindy Jacks says

    December 8, 2012 at 6:25 pm

    That is such a beautiful location! And I love the photographs, really captured the rustic spirit of the mill.

    Reply
  6. Jess @UsedYorkCity says

    December 5, 2012 at 8:54 pm

    This tour sounds fab, as it includes a bit of history and a bit of food!;-) And I always love looking at lush photos of the English countryside!

    Reply
    • FionaM says

      December 7, 2012 at 8:26 am

      My pictures don’t really do it all justice! It is a stunning place. Hope you get to see it for real sometime!

      Reply
  7. Cari @ MeetMyHusband says

    December 5, 2012 at 6:57 pm

    I’ve never seen anything like that, Fiona! Great pictures of the area. I love reading your blog because I get to see and hear about places that are completely new to me.

    Reply
    • FionaM says

      December 7, 2012 at 8:25 am

      if you come over this way, let me know and I’ll show you round a bit…you’ll probably have to leave your other half somewhere because I think I’m getting to know much too much about him!!!

      Reply
  8. Corry Starling says

    December 5, 2012 at 3:08 pm

    Thoroughly enjoyed the article about Mapledurham, brilliant pictures. Thank you for the mention.
    From
    The scary looking Miller Of Mapledurham

    Regards
    Corry

    Reply
    • FionaM says

      December 5, 2012 at 3:14 pm

      LOL Corry! it was the only picture I had of you…but I really enjoyed the visit!!!

      Reply
    • magdalena says

      October 3, 2014 at 5:24 am

      not to mention this place is on the cover of the first Black Sabbath album!!

      Reply

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