Sparrow's Mill Traditional Cache
Team-Bella: Washed away by the January floods. As a family we’ve lost our love of geocaching so will not be replacing this cache.
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This cache is situated by a wonderful watermill on the outskirts of the village of Needham. It can be a quick 'cache 'n' dash' or part of a lovely walk down this quiet country lane. Parking is available 100 metres before the cache on the Needham side, or better still at Needham village hall where another one of our cache's is hidden, allowing a nice stroll to this one.
Please note that this cache is very near to the River Waveney so children will need to be supervised at all times. This cache can be accessed by standing on the road itself, so there is no need to go wandering near to the waters edge. There is also no need to lean over any of the railing above the water itself.
Needham Mill was a small 4 storey red brick building laid with Flemish bond and roofed with blue tiles. The mill was rebuilt c.1870 after a fire destroyed the earlier timber framed building. In 1918 the wheel was running 4 pairs of French burr stones to grind wheat into flour. Each of the four sets of stones would be capable of grinding two ‘coombe sacks’ full per hour, at 16 stone a sack.
Faden’s map of Norfolk, 1797, calls Needham Mill ‘Sparrows Mill’, perhaps from a previous owner.
The present building (which strictly is in Suffolk) was in use as a mill until about 1934. Arthur Bush was the last miller here. The natural setting of the mill is reckoned to be one of the most picturesque.
Its machinery was removed in 1940 and sold for scrap in the war effort.
The bridge in Mill Lane was lengthened in 1962; and since late 1971 signs have warned that the lane is unsuitable for vehicles over 23 feet 6 inches long (the corners are too sharp).
In 1963 the mill was converted to a gauging station. The old mill-wheel flume was made into a 10 foot wide flow-measurement weir. At the same time a new structure was built on the by-pass channel upstream of the mill containing a 3 foot wide weir for low flow measurement, and a 25 foot weir for high flows. This replaced a derelict weir and flood sluice.
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
1991 Zvpunry Wnpxfba Uvg