18th century mill
Opposite the bottom of Sudeley Place once stood the East Mill, a white post mill, probably erected in the 1790s. It had a round mill house and cottage at the rear of the later 162 Marine Parade. It was removed to Sussex Street, near Windmill Street, where it was generally known as ‘Taylor’s Mill’.
19th century cottages
Millfield Cottages, named from the original mill, are a row of small houses off Sudeley Place and probably date from the 1830s.
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The mill was moved to Sussex Street but then in 1862 on to the top of Bear Road, Race Hill, this extract from the James Gray Archive gives more details and photographs too. ‘This mill, originally known as East End Mill, was first erected south of Sudely Place in 1793. It was later known as Taylor’s Mill and in 1831, was moved to the top of Sussex Street. Finally in 1862 it as removed to the top of Bear Road close to the Racecourse where it remained until 16 May 1913, when it collapsed’. from the James Gray Archive
I have an old undated photo of this mill titled “The Old Wind Mill, Race Hill, Brighton”. Presumably taken in its final days as the medium-sized post mill with enclosed trestle has only two sweeps left and its condition looks parlous to say the least. I’m fascinated by windmills, especially in the Brighton area, and it’s good that so many have survived: Jack and Jill, Patcham, Rottingdean, Hangleton, and the others around Sussex. It’s also interesting to read how often these structures were moved bodily to new sites, as in the case of the above mill – presumably no mean undertaking given their saize and the complexity of their structures.
I have an entry from the 1871 census for one John Perman (coachman, widower, age 59, born Silton Dorset) and family at No 7 Millfield Cottages.
Can anyone tell me more about this address at that time?
Who would John have been a coachman for?
He was previously living above stables in Bristol Gardens at the rear of Sussex Square and might then have been coachman for the Marquis of Bristol.
He later lived at Grove Hill Road in Tunbridge Wells where he died in 1889.
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