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There
were two URIDGE families that owned,
or worked windmills in Kent:
Edgar
& Isaac URIDGE
James
Isidore URIDGE
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James
Isidore URIDGE—Ashley
Mill, Cheriton, Kent
James and William Martin (his brother-in-law)
were in partnership and James is listed
in the 1891 census as a Miller at
Ashley Cottages, Cheriton, Kent.
James
Isidore URIDGE married
Mary Jane MARTIN in 1890. They
had three sons, Douglas James (1893-1972),
Edgar John Gibbins who died in
World War I (1896-1917), and Kingsley
Frank G. (1900-1900) who died in infancy.
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These
two photographs were taken at Ashley
Mill, on the same day, about the turn
of the century. You can see the
same group in both photographs.
Mary
Jane is standing at the back left,
together with her sister-in-law Eliza
MARTIN nee ATTRIDGE who married William
MARTIN. The children are Vera MARTIN
and her brother Cyril William MARTIN.
Photographs
kindly provided by Richard Senior,
grandson of Cyril William MARTIN.
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Information extracted from WATERMILLS
& WINDMILLS - A Historical Survey
of their Rise, Decline and Fall as
Portrayed by those of Kent - by WILLIAM
COLES FINCH 1933, kindly
provided by Richard Senior.
FOLKESTONE
Cheriton, Ashley
Mill.* mile NW. of Shorncliffe Station.
Brick base remains.
1903-1910
Humphrey,
the Cranbrook millwright, built this
mill, said to have been a small replica
of the large Union Mill at Cranbrook.
There was exactly the same arrangement
of the machinery, except that it worked
two pairs of stones instead of three.
It was
originally built at Hythe, where it
was owned by the Horton family. It
was purchased by Mr. Brissenden, a
builder of Sandgate, who pulled it
down and rebuilt it in Tile Kiln Lane,
Cheriton, at a cost of £00. A millwright
named Spray, of Folkestone, installed
the machinery, and it was set to work
by a Mr. Gilpin, of Dover, in 1877.
Between 1877 and 1889 the mill changed
hands five times and was then taken
over by Mr. W. Martin, who worked
up a good business. By reason of the
growth of Cheriton, more general trade
was brought to the mill. It had previously
been occupied mainly for cattle and
poultry grist. Flour was last made
at the mill in 1891, the flour dressing
machinery then having become obsolete.
In 1902 one
of the sweeps broke off close to the
shaft, when running. The one opposite
appeared to be weak, so it was decided
to have two new sweeps. Unfortunately
the old midling was thought good enough
and the new sweeps were duly affixed
but it collapsed and a sweep was broken
away with it. Thus ended the use of
wind power at the mill. A gas engine
was then installed, which ran on until
1919, when, by reason of decay, the
fine old tower was pulled down and the
present brick building erected as a
corn store. The square tarred brick
base of the old windmill still stands,
with the new red brickwork of the tower
carried up to almost the height of the
original mill. The photograph of this
structure as it stands to-day takes
in Mr. Geo. E. Ride, a genial Kentish
windmiller, who has helped considerably
with information about our old mills.
For
some years prior to 1895 Ashley Mill
was worked with two canvas sails and
two spring shuttered sweeps but in
1895 all four sweeps were spring shuttered.
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Edgar
& Isaac URIDGE—Cage
Green and Southborough Windmill
In the 1830s,
two brothers
Edgar and
Isaac URIDGE owned Cage Green
windmill in Kent, and also operated
Southborough windmill. There are no
traces of either mill today - except
two roads named after the Uridges
in Tonbridge (Cage Green). Edgar
and Isaac were the grandsons of
Isaac and Sarah
URIDGE nee CRUNDAL. Edgar married,
but never had any children, Isaac
never married.Edgar married
Sarah POTTER on October 30, 1831.
He died on April 20, 1853, and in
his will he bequeathed property in
Cage Green, and Romford in the parish
of Pembury.Sarah died December 2,
1853. In her will she bequeathed her
estate to her nine brothers and sisters.
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Information
extracted from WATERMILLS
& WINDMILLS - A Historical Survey
of their Rise, Decline and Fall as
Portrayed by those of Kent - by WILLIAM
COLES FINCH 1933,
kindly provided by Richard Senior.
Southborough Windmill
(Near Tunbridge Wells)
¼
mile SW. of Church. 1819-43
This mill stood on Southborough
Common and must have disappeared
over a century ago. Its site to-day
is enclosed by a high hedge, used
as a garden and called Mill Platt.
Uridge's Mill. ½ mile N.
of Tonbridge Castle. 1819-43.
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A
detailed map (1:500 or 10.56
ft to 1 mile) |
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Uridges
Mill was so named after an early
owner. Later owners include
the names of Cox, Holloway,
Ridgeway and Knell (who worked
it last.) Bobby Woodman, a dwarf,
a well-known local character,
worked there for many years.
After giving up milling he,
accompanied by a white dog,
used to go round the town with
fruit and vegetables. The local
paper published a picture of
him a few years ago. Mr. Geo.
E. Skinner, of Tonbridge, tells
me the mill was pulled down
about 1872. The land was required
for building. But it was standing
in 1868 although it was then
no longer in use, for, as a
lad, Mr. Skinner often played
in it. It stood on a brick base
foundation, on which the body
of the mill rotated, being pulled
round into the wind by a horse.
There was a beam attached to
the body of the mill, the end
coming within a few feet of
the ground, to which there was
a spread-bat to take the traces
from the horse. The mill had
a circular hedge round it of
a diameter to allow the pole
to turn the upper part of the
mill on its stump. One of the
arms of the mill was blown off
on a stormy night some little
time before it was demolished.
Conversation with another elderly
resident, Mr. J. Barton, whose
recollections of the mill go
back seventy-six years, confirmed
its disappearance about 1872,
and he gave me the following
further information.
No.
64 Shipbourne Road, a three-storied
house at the corner of Uridge
Road, now a greengrocer's shop
bearing the name of I. M. Evans
(proprietor Herbert Brooker),
was originally the miller's
home. Close by used to stand
some outbuildings used as bakeries,
for the miller was also a baker.
The site of the mill is to-day
occupied by Clifton Villa, a
house at the end of Uridge Road,
which is a cul-de-sac, ending
in a brick wall bounding the
grounds of the Tonbridge Nursing
Home.
There
used to be a back lane leading
to the mill from Shipbourne Road.
This lane to-day is known locally
as Back Hill. Actually, part of
it is thrown into cottage gardens
now but its course can easily
be traced. Since writing the above
I have received a letter from
Mr. John C. Knocker, of the firm
of Messrs. Stenning, Knocker &
Co., solicitors, of Tonbridge,
who writes: I have now in front
of me an old conveyance dated
in 1870 (when George Lambert purchased
some property adjoining Uridge
Road) which shows the site of
the wind mill on property then
belonging to Mrs. Cox, and the
site would seem to be Lot 6 of
the sale in 1892 after the death
of my late partner, Mr. Stenning.
The house was then in the occupation
of Dann (I believe he was his
gardener) and it was sold to V.
A. Perkins. I will make some enquiries
as to who might have removed the
mill, but believe the house was
erected a good many years previously
to the date when we sold the property.
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