• Skip to content
  • Contact us
  • Get involved
Westerham Heritage
Exploring the history of a Kent market town
  • Home
  • People
  • Places
  • Heritage Trails
  • Work
  • Community
  • Events
  • Talking Heads
  • Maps & censuses
  • More
  • YouTube
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Flickr
You are here: Home>Places>Mills, rivers and ponds

Mills, rivers and ponds

The River Darent is born in Westerham, being created by a network of at least seven springs. At the west-end of town are two man-made ponds, created for water storage to feed Darenth mill at the east-end of town through a network of sluices which are long gone, but can be seen on the 1869 and 1896 maps. The first of these ponds is the Long Pond which lays alongside today's A25 opposite what was the General Wolfe pub. This pond was restored as the town's millenium project, but needs constant maintenance to keep it clear of reeds and willow. This pond feeds into the Round Pond sited at the side of today's Mill Lane, originally a path leading to Elm View mill, a stone building pulled down in the 1960s.

PAGE:12Next >
  • 1869 Map of Long Pond, including Squerryes Court and Lake

    1869 Map of Long Pond, including Squerryes Court and Lake

    Reference: WH1121
  • 1896 Map of Long Pond, including Squerryes Court and Lake

    1896 Map of Long Pond, including Squerryes Court and Lake

    Reference: WH1122
  • 1907 Map of Long Pond, including Squerryes Court and Lake

    1907 Map of Long Pond, including Squerryes Court and Lake

    Reference: WH1123
  • Aerial View of High Steet Including Long Pond, Brewery, General Wolfe Pub

    Aerial View of High Steet Including Long Pond, Brewery, General Wolfe Pub

    Reference: WH1095
  • Darent Mill Stream

    Darent Mill Stream

    Reference: WH1128
  • Darenth mill waterwheel

    Darenth mill waterwheel

    Darenth mill was sited down the end of today’s Mill Street at the east-end of town. Unlike Elm View mill at the west-end, Darenth mill was of wooden construction, of which there are very few photographs in existence. This photograph shows that the wheel was of the ‘overshot’ variety which meant that the wheel could ...
    Reference: WH1124
  • Elm View  Mill, Mill lane

    Elm View Mill, Mill lane

    Reference: WH1109
  • Elm View  Mill, Mill lane

    Elm View Mill, Mill lane

    This photograph taken in the mid 1950s shows Elm View Mill in a bad state of repair. The notice above the door states ‘The public are warned not to approach this mill as the structure is in a highly dangerous condition’. Most of the joists of the upper floor and the roof timbers had rotted ...
    Reference: WH1125
  • Elm View  Mill, no longer  working as a corn mill. The old gentleman standing outside may well be William Sage.

    Elm View Mill, no longer working as a corn mill. The old gentleman standing outside may well be William Sage.

    At this point, around the 1890s, the mill had been decommissioned and turned into a pumping station to pump water from a deep well in the aquifer to an underground reservoir on the hill above the mill. The wedge shaped structure to the right of  the mill in front of the picket fence housed powerful ...
    Reference: WH1115
  • Elm View Mill remains

    Elm View Mill remains

    In the early 1880s, Elm View mill ceased operation as a flour mill, and was converted to drive a set of ram-pumps to pump water up to the high ground to the east of Spring Shaw wood where there had been constructed a large subterranean reservoir. From here water was fed to the town, the ...
    Reference: WH1118
  • Elm View Mill, Mill Lane  Winter View in Snow

    Elm View Mill, Mill Lane Winter View in Snow

    Reference: WH1119
  • Etching of Elm View Mill in Mill Lane  West  of Town

    Etching of Elm View Mill in Mill Lane West of Town

    Reference: WH1116
  • Little Mill aka Upper Mill at Spring Shaw by the Coach Road Squerryes Park

    Little Mill aka Upper Mill at Spring Shaw by the Coach Road Squerryes Park

    Reference: WH1087
  • Little Mill aka Upper Mill in a wider view

    Little Mill aka Upper Mill in a wider view

    Reference: WH1126
  • Little Mill Postcard Reverse

    Little Mill Postcard Reverse

    Reference: WH1094
  • Long Pond looking East to Verralls Corner

    Long Pond looking East to Verralls Corner

    Reference: WH1134
  • Long Pond, West of  High Street with Child and Wildfowl

    Long Pond, West of High Street with Child and Wildfowl

    Reference: WH1098
  • Long Pond, West of High Street

    Long Pond, West of High Street

    Reference: WH1120
  • Long Pond, West of High Street including Brewery & General Wolfe Pub

    Long Pond, West of High Street including Brewery & General Wolfe Pub

    Reference: WH1096
  • Long Pond, West of High Street including Children

    Long Pond, West of High Street including Children

    Reference: WH1083
  • Long Pond, West of High Street including General Wolf Pub

    Long Pond, West of High Street including General Wolf Pub

    Reference: WH1084
  • Long Pond, West of High Street, in winter including General Wolfe Pub

    Long Pond, West of High Street, in winter including General Wolfe Pub

    Reference: WH1099
  • Mill Cottages looking from Elm View Mill

    Mill Cottages looking from Elm View Mill

    Reference: WH1127
  • Mill Street lady and toddler

    Mill Street lady and toddler

    The lady standing in the doorway of number 6 Mill Street is Florence Louisa (nee Paige) Allen, who would have been 52 in 1921. She lived at 2 Mill Street from 1891 and was still there in 1939. The lady in the hat is her daughter Ellen (nee Paige) Whitmore who married Fred Whitmore in ...
    Reference: WH1129
PAGE:12Next >
Westerham Society (opens in new window) Heritage Lottery Fund (opens in new window)
Website by CommunitySites
  • Terms of use
  • Privacy and cookies
  • Accessibility
  • Admin login
Content released under Creative Commons BY-NC-ND 4.0