Sutton Mills in the sixteenth and seventeenth century
There is a reference to two mills in Sutton in 1598 and 1611. This is in an article in the Journal of the Pembrokeshire Historical Society
18 July, 1611
Indenture between Thomas Lloyd of Cilciffeth, in Llanychaer, co. Pem broke, esq., David Lloyd of Morvil, co. Pembroke, gent., and Robert Bowen of Llanychaer, co. Pembroke, gent., determining the uses of a grant dated I August, 1598 from the said Thomas Lloyd and Margaret, his wife, to Owen Jones of Trecwn, co. Pembroke, gent., and Richard Phillipps of Woodstock , co. Pembroke, of messuages, lands and premises including two water mills in Sutton in the parish of Lambston , ……..
I have not been able to find any other reference to these mills. It is unlikely that they are Lambston or East Hook mills. I have not found any description of land in either of these two places as ‘at Sutton’. Sutton always seems to be a fairly well defined area excluding both lambston land (North of Lambston water and East Hook.
I have no location for either of the Sutton Mills but presumably they would have been between the ford onto Sutton Mountain and the road crossing below the Baptist chapel. Where else could a watermill could work? One possibility is that they could have been windmills! There are examples elsewhere in Pembrokeshire. In 1840 one of the fields at Walesland was known as ‘Windmill Park’.
East Hook Mill
Finally, there is another seventeenth century agreement to supply water from Walesland to East Hook to supply a water mill. This is described on the East Hook website .
The location of the East Hook Mill is not really clear. (I have not been able to find it on any early map). The first edition OS maps show what looks like a leat and a mill pond at East Hook and the field name for the nearest field to this location was ‘Mill Mountain’. My best guess for a location for the mill is shown in the map below.
I suggest that the mill at East Hook was supplied by a leat from a tributary further upstream. From the bridleway you can see the remains of a leat joining the Pelcomb Brook just upstream of the footbridge.
Why was an agreement needed?
The Agreement between Walesland and East Hook seems odd. The two farms are on opposite sides of the valley with a stream between them. So it is hard to see how water may have been transferred unless the farm boundaries were very different at that time. In any case all the water from Walesland flows into the Pelcomb Brook which passes East Hook land so it is hard to see why an agreement would be needed.
The only solution I can come up with is that the Lambston Mill leat we see in the nineteenth century was probably an earlier structure designed to supply water to augment this tributary. That would have needed an agreement from Walesland if the farm boundaries were similar to today’s boundaries.
I have shown what I think may have happened in the map below.
I do not know a lot about mills, so if you are, and you have a better idea, please let me know.