Since discovering the remains of the old dam with Pete and Steve I was fascinated by it and wanted to explore further. So like a modern day Indiana Jones, wearing my old Tilley hat and armed with my camera and thermal mug of tea, I set off on an expedition to deepest, darkest Crowborough Warren.
Looking around from the stream it is very difficult to locate the remains of the dam as much of it was destroyed in the 1950's when it was breached during a storm. The damage is very extensive and you can't see the other side. However by standing at the foot of the broken dam and following its natural sweep across the missing section, I surmised that any further remains had to be in a north easterly direction on the far side of the valley. Visibility is very limited as the valley is now densely covered in tall trees.
I followed the footpath north for approximately 50 metres then crossed over the stream and bushwhacked my way through the thick undergrowth in an easterly direction. After another 50 metres there in front of me appeared the dam consisting of a large brick supporting wall with a series of arched alcoves in it. The whole dam was quite a substantial piece of Victorian engineering, now decaying and covered in ivy, moss and ferns.
I took a trip to my local library to carry out some historical research and found a book called 'Forest Camera' written by Peter Kirby in 1998. In the section on Crowborough I discovered that the valley was dammed in the early part of the nineteenth century by the landowner Edward frisby Harris (possibly Howis). He created a large expanse of water called New Mill pond, surrounded by parkland. Water from the pond was used to power the mill, which in 1840 was used to grind the flour to make Queen Victoria's wedding cake as the Miller was related to the Royal Baker.
The water wheel which stood twenty feet high was removed from New Mill during world war two for scrap and the mill which had become derelict was pulled down. Builders took 5,000 tons of stone from the mill to use for local housing.
Throughout its history New Mill pond was used by the local residents and soldiers from Crowborough camp for swimming. Tragically over the years there have been several incidents of drowning, as the water was deep and very cold. The pond was eventually drained after being breached in the storm.
I lived in Crowborough from 1959 - 1965. The remains of the mill and mill ponds was one of our playgrounds. As far as I recall at that point in time the mill pond was divided into two parts. The upper part still contained water, but the lower part had been drained. The mill building we used to "explore" was at the far end of the drained part of the mill pond. There was still a steam close by. I recall there was a stone aquaduct which presumably had been used to deliver water onto the top of the mill wheel. We used to crawl along it much to the horror of my parents, who once shown where we played, forbade us from going near the place again.
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