Monument record 10881/1 - Medieval and Post Medieval Dee Mills

The first mill to be built in Chester was on the Dee River, just above the bridge, and was built by Hugh Lupus 1093 originally for Abbey of St Werburgh but seemingly never used by them, instead Richard, the next earl, granted the Abbey a mill in Bache, which was more convenient for their tenants in Northgate Street, and the Dee Mills were retained by the Earls and later the Crown. By 1277, there were six water wheels at the site (five under one roof).

With some exceptions, including the nun’s of St Mary’s Nunnery, all residents of the city bound under penalty of forfeiture of their corn to bring it to be ground at the mill. The toll for grinding was paid in kind, and the miller and staff taking a percentage of the grain (1). The Earl kept a court of the mills every year, dealing with 'extortion by the millers, stealing of corn and the violent conduct of the frequenters of the mills'. As royal mills, they were leased out; Richard the Engineer held a 12 year lease on the mills for £200 in the late 13th century (2, 3).

Richard made some alterations to the mill, adding two extra mills in 1290 and repairing the whole in 1298. This work seems to have failed, however, as they were subsequently re-housed under two roofs in groups of two and three on an adjacent site. Further substantial alterations were made in 1355 when the causeway was raised to provide extra power. In the later years of the medieval period, the Dee Mills declined in value, in 1509, rent was 50 for corn mills, 24 for fisheries and 11 for the fulling mill on the south bank of river, but the mills still commanded power and were the cause of much resentment and litigation in the city. (7)

This move was rejected by an inquisition which found that there were five corn mills and one malt mill (with 11 water wheels) under 'two several roofs' and two water wheels built by John Tyrer to convey water into the city. The order of destruction was quashed in 1609, but in 1646 an order issued again for destruction of the mills and the causeway, and for the erection of new mills on the Roodee; this latter move was also quashed. In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries the mills were badly damaged by fire on several occasions, and the corporation acquired them in 1895, demolishing them in 1910 (1, 4).

<1> Bennett R & Elton J, 1898, History of Cornmilling, /55-123 (Book). SCH1417.

<2> Morris, Rupert H (Rev.), 1894, Chester in the Plantagenet & Tudor Reigns, /102-107 (Book). SCH946.

<3> Ormerod, G., 1882, The History of the County Palatine and City of Chester, Ormerod G 1882 1/362-363 (Book). SCH1389.

<4> Harris, B.E., 1979, Bartholomew City Guides - Chester, /135 (Book). SCH394.

<5> Bott O J P, 1984, Cornmill sites in Cheshire 1066-1850 Part 4 (Article in Journal). SCH6107.

<6> Bott O J P, 1984, Cornmill sites in Cheshire 1066-1850 Part 3 (Article in Journal). SCH6106.

<7> Lewis C.P & Thacker A.T. (eds), 2005, Victoria County History - A History of the County of Chester: Volume Vii, The City of Chester - The City of Chester, Culture, Buildings, Institutions, p106 (Book). SCH6522.