Local Historical Stories

A COLLECTION OF HISTORICAL ARTICLES THAT FIRST APPEARED IN THE ALSTON MOOR NEWSLETTER

INTRODUCTION
Early in 1996 Alastair Robertson - our local historian was asked if he would write a couple of historical articles for the Alston Moor Newsletter. He thought he could manage three or four but in the event, over 20 years later, they were still going. Once, and only once, he received an unsolicited article from an outside source, this was the reminiscence of a school for wartime evacuees at Nent Hall that came from Mr. Michael Dickinson and it was gratefully included in the series.

They’re a real mixed bag, too random to put into a book, but they’re still worth keeping in a more permanent form, so the Historical Society website seemed the perfect place to have them.

Material for the articles came largely from local sources, from the Alston Moor Historical Society Archives, St. Augustine’s Church Records, Alston Library, the Cumbria County Records Office in Carlisle and the County Records Office Northumberland.

There has been editing in some cases that will be noted at the beginning of each item, otherwise the articles have been left as they were written, complete with occasional references to such things as cement lorries, the millennium, and foot and mouth disease, which are themselves now things of the past (?).
Read on …

Story No 50: The High Mill

Filed in: 14th Century written by: Alastair Robertson
Stacks Image 309844

THE HIGH MILL, ALSTON


The High Mill in Alston has been empty since Bonds Precision Products moved out some years ago. The complex of buildings was bought recently by someone with the interests of Alston Moor at heart. But the question, what should the mill be used for? To help raise awareness, here’s an article in two parts about the mill’s history.

The earliest record of a corn mill on Alston Moor is from 1315 when a mill was listed in the inquisito post mortem (a legal inquiry as to the entitlement of the deceased to his estate) of Nicholas de Veteripont, lately deceased lord of the manor. The earliest reference to an individual mill is to Blackburn Mill at Leadgate in 1590, when it was demised with other land and property to Thomas Vepound, which makes me wonder if that was the original lord’s mill. In 1699 the lord’s mill was rented to John Stephenson of Crosslands, with ½-yearly payments to be made at Michaelmas and Pentecost.

North Pennines Heritage Trust no longer exists, so please don't contact Barhaugh Hall with queries.
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Do you have a historical story of your own or that you know of ? Please contact us to share it with the Society!

Thank you.
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About Us
Alston Moor Historical Society was founded in 1973 and, due to the nature of Alston Moor, it is a member of both the Northumberland Association of Local History Societies and the Cumbria Federation of Local History Societies.
Alston Moor Historical Society
LOCATION
Alston Moor, Cumbria
Alston Moor Historical Society - Alston Stories