Between 1775 and 1792, a
post mill was sited close to a gravel pit (now a fishing
pond) on Beverley Road. It is recorded that the miller had
a dispute with his neighbour, who retaliated by planting a row
of trees which eventually grew and disrupted the wind-flow to
the mill, eventually putting it out of business.
By 1800 there were two mills depicted on a
map drawn in connection with improvements to the River Hull
Navigation and the proposed Leven Canal - One was the old post
mill and the newcomer was a tower mill on the other side of the
road near the canal head. This mill was apparently worked by
William Cook, but no accurate date is known.
Hebb New Mill |
Later still, around 1893, two mills
were known to have existed in the village. One would
have been Hebb Mill, then known as Leven New Mill', by
then converted to wind & steam power, and the other
would probably have been Wright's Mill, also wind and
steam driven, which was sited in what is now the Mill
Drive/Barley Gate area of the village, Edward Armytage
Wright being the miller/farmer.
Around the mid 1940's a lightning bolt
struck Hebb New Mill, causing a fire that gutted the structure. It
was never rebuilt, and the base still remains today, still
bearing the scar where the lightning strike went to ground.
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It is unclear what happened to the tower
mill near to Canal Head (run by William Cook), or when
Wright's Mill was originally built, but apparently, due to its
bad state of repair, it was demolished in the early 1920's.
a conflicting article has come to light
in recent years, and goes something like this...
"before
crossing Bowlam Dyke by Mill Bridge" (South
Street),
"set back from the road on the right, Old Mill House, the
home of George Hollders, a farmer [assumed
to be the site of the old post mill] Next
on the left, the windmill of Mr William Cook and his wife
Elizabeth, one of three corn mills in the village. from Mr
Cook's mill [opposite Nursery
Walk] the
mill of George Agar, set back from High Stile, [assumed
to be Wright's Mill]
and the new mill of
Blackie Stevenson and his wife Elizabeth on Spruce Road (on
top of the hill between the end of East Street and the new
bypass) [assumed to be
Hebb New Mill] would
clearly be seen"
There is no accurate date to which this article refers,
only "about 150 years ago"
Our thanks go out to Margaret Kirby for
the following information - John Hebb
was baptized at Leven on 2nd November 1845 (died
2.11.1910 age 65). He appears in the 1871 census, age 25, as
Corn Miller and in 1881 again and in East Street. In 1891 he is
at Hornsea Road but in 1891 John describes himself as Brewers
Agent 'Beer Off' but with him his is unmarried son Thomas M.
Hebb 27 Corn Miller. From the photo of the Mill with the Knaggs
family in it, the Knaggs family came to Leven in mid 1890s. I
worked this out from the children who were born at North
Frodingham and then others in later 1890s at Leven. The photo
(windmill with no sales) is early 1900s.
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Hebb's Mill |
1851
Map of Leven
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