page_title: River Roach
section_title: Milling
hierarchical_section_title: River Roach / Milling
caption_attribution_description: English: Bridges over the river roach at stambridge mills
context_page_description: The River Roach is a river that flows entirely through the English county of Essex. It is one of four main streams that originate in the Rayleigh Hills to the west, and flow east. They then flow towards the centre of the Rochford Basin, a circular feature which may have been caused by an asteroid impact in the Late Oligocene or Early Miocene periods. To the east of Rochford, the river becomes tidal, and is governed by the Crouch Harbour Authority. It joins the River Crouch between Wallasea Island and Foulness Island. To the west of Rochford, there is some doubt as to which of the four streams is officially the Roach.
  At Stambridge, there was a tidal mill from at least the 1500s, although few details are known until it was rebuilt in 1809. A pound was filled by the incoming tide, and was released to drive a water wheel as the tide fell. On spring tides, this gave around 7 hours of operation, which gradually decreased as the tides reduced, and at neap tides, the operation of the mill was entirely dependent on the flow from the upper river.
context_section_description: At Stambridge, the modern river transforms from a fairly small channel to a wide tidal estuary. This was once the site of a tide mill. The earliest records for such a mill at Stambridge date from 1500, but apart from the fact that it was rebuilt in 1762, few other details from this period are known. However, in 1809, a new four-storey timber-framed mill was erected on the site. William Hugh Rankin leased the mill in 1824, and after enlarging the mill pond in 1858, bought the mill for £4,500 when it came up for sale in 1867. The Rankin family owned and ran the mill until 1962. A steam-powered mill was built to supplement the tide mill in 1872, but it burnt down in 1878. It was replaced by a five-storey building, constructed of brick, which became the mainstay of the business. The tidal pound gradually silted up, but the tide mill continued to be used until around 1951.
  The tidal pound covered around 3 acres (1.2 ha) and was filled by the rising tide through a set of gates similar to those on a lock. As the tide fell, the gates closed. Water from the pound was fed along a short mill-stream, to drive a wheel which was around 18 feet (5.5 m) in diameter. The central shaft was wooden, and was connected to three sets of millstones. Tidal water in the pound was supplemented by the flow from the upper river, particularly at neap tides, when high tide levels were lower. Rankins objected when the Great Eastern Railway wanted to build a reservoir near Rochford railway station, by constructing a weir across the stream. They argued that it damaged their business. At spring tides, the mill pound filled to a depth of 4 feet (1.2 m) above the level of the cill, and this provided enough water to run the mill for 7 hours, but the level and the length of time the mill could be operated dropped off as the tides reduced, and at neap tides, the mill was wholly dependent on water from the upper river.
  The water wheel was of the breastshot type, and there was a drop of another 4 feet (1.2 m) between the cill and low water level in the river. The wheel was stated to be 10 feet (3.0 m) wide (which seems more realistic than Charlier and Finkl's 32 feet (9.8 m)), the floats were 12 inches (30 cm) deep, and the wheel was not shrouded. The streams supplied some 950,000 imperial gallons (4,300 m³) of water per day to the pound, based on a catchment area of 7,650 acres (3,100 ha) and an average rainfall of 20 inches (510 mm) per year. The railway would not extract any water if the flow was below 130,000 imperial gallons (590 m³) per day, but could take up to 500,000 imperial gallons (2,300 m³) per day if flows were sufficient. The solicitors acting for Rankins stated, however, that there was considerable leakage through the mill head, and the unshrouded wheel made their case much weaker. The wheel suffered from subsidence in 1951, which prevented further use, and the mill burnt down in 1964, two years after Rankins sold the operation to Associated British Foods.
  The Great Eastern Railway initially wanted to construct two reservoirs and a weir, but in addition to opposition from Rankins, who claimed compensation, there was also opposition from Rochford District Council. They drew water from the stream to water the streets, and feared that this supply would be lost. The Railway Company obtained an Act of Parliament in 1904, which allowed them to build the weir and one of the reservoirs. It can still be seen beside the Bradley Way bypass.
caption: Bridges over the River Roach at Stambridge Mills cross the dam of the mill pound.
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