In episode 11, I visit Barry and Chris Flannaghan at the restored Burton watermill in Sussex. I discover how Burton Mill has evolved over the centuries but always using water as its source of power. The present 4 storey, 5 bay mill building dates from 1780 and was built on the foundations of an earlier forge or fulling mill (there is a record of a mill close to this site in the Domesday book). Today Burton Mill produces traditional stoneground flour and I get to taste the results!

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Useful Links

* Burton Mill near Petworth is only open to the public a few times per year. Please check their website for details on their upcoming open days.

* You can find Chris’ recipe for Irish tea bread here.

* Mills Archive Trust

* Sussex Industrial Archaeology Society

Suggested Reading

* Modern Cookery for Private Families by Eliza Acton (1845)

* The English Bread Book by Eliza Acton (1857)

* The Canterbury Tales by Geoffry Chaucer (Modern English Version, 1934)

* English Bread and Yeast Cookery by Elizabeth David (1977)

* Watermills, Kent and the borders of Sussex by Michael J Fuller and R J Spain1986

* Water in England by Dorothy Hartley (1964)

* Puck’s Song by Rudyard Kipling (1906)

* The English Huswife by Gervase Markham (originally published 1615)

Don’t forget you can follow me on Instagram or Bluesky @mrssbilton or find out more about my work on sambilton.com.

A huge thank you to Thomas Ntinas of The Delicious Legacy for doing the sound mixing on this season of the podcast. Sound effects and music provided by Zapsplat and Pond5.

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