Hempstead watermill and the adjoining mill house are built of local flint and brick under a Norfolk pantiled roof. The present building was built by Richard John Gurney in 1830 and at that time was known as Holt Mill, undoubtably because the mill is actually within the parish of Holt. The original watercourse, along which the parish boundary still runs, was moved northwestwards some 40 yards slightly towards Holt in order to better accommodate the mill machinery layout. The River Glaven, which used to be called Hempstead Beck, was effectively dammed by the mill thereby forming the large lake that is still above the mill today.
At the time locals used to say, "Mr. Gurney, he built a barn where there weren't enough corn to put in it and a mill where there weren't enough water to turn the wheel." |
