Double Darnley: Gristmill & Cascade Traditional Cache
Double Darnley: Gristmill & Cascade
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Difficulty:
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Terrain:
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Size: 
(small)
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Cache is located near the Darnley Gristmill, and Darnley Cascade in Greensville. Cache is a lock-n-lock container that contains a logbook and various dollar store toys. Please bring your own writing instrument to sign and replace as found. I have created a waypoint to the nearest LEGAL parking, which is in the Crooks Hollow Conservation Lot, about 500m from the cache. Thanks to BQ for bringing this area to my attention!
****The HCA staff will monitor this location and if cachers block the laneway to the dam and do not use the parking that I have indicated via waypoint, the cache will be removed.****
After finding the cache, make sure to explore the Grist Mill. Please do not cross into any area with no trespassing signs. They are for your safety as the walls are somewhat unstable. Follow the trail towards the water to get a better view of the Darnley Cascade.
Named after Lord Darnley of Scotland, a famous ancestor of James Crooks, the Darnley grist mill was constructed in 1811. The mill was made of local stone, and three storeys high. A nine metre overshot waterwheel was mounted outside the wall beside Spencer Creek. The grist mill attracted local commerce: by 1829, it was surrounded by a woolen mill, distillery, tannery, paper mill, clothing factory, an inn, workers’ log cabins, and more. After Crooks died in 1860, the mill was sold to James Stutt and Robert Sanderson, who converted it into a papermill. In 1880 Stutt bought out his partner and added a steam boiler building for heating water for papermaking and auxiliary power. Unfortunately, the boiler exploded
on July 9, 1885, killing two men and causing extensive damage to the property. The mill was reconstructed, and in 1902 William Stutt, son of James, took it over. He leased it out first to the Adams Cellboard Company, then the Greensville Paper Company. When the mill was gutted by fire in 1934, it was the end of an era. It was made into a historical site in 1969.
The province's first paper mill began operations in 1826. Situated about 140 m downstream from the historical plaque, it was owned by James Crook's (1786-1860), one of Upper Canada's most successful entrepreneurs. On 160 ha of land purchased here in 1811, Crooks had, by 1822, erected a number of other mills, creating Crook's Hollow, one of the province's largest concentrations of industry. Construction of the paper mill was encouraged by an expanding domestic market and the British government's imposition in 1826 of a high tariff on paper imported to Canada from the United States. Crooks sold his paper mill in 1851, but under various owners it continued operations until destroyed by fire in 1875.
Congratulations to Foam Follower on the FTF!
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
Va Pebgpu Bs Gerr