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Water Mills on the Upper Colne


In feudal England watermills were important franchises belonging to the lord of the manor who owned the sole right to grind corn and levied a toll on everybody using his mill. Each monastery also had its own mill which served the dual purpose of controlling the sluices to the fishponds and grinding corn.

The economic value of water-mills in the years before steam power was harnessed, was enormous. The mills were rented out to professional millers, and as valuable income producing assets, grand families collected portfolios of them. The De Veres based in Castle Hedingham are said to have had 17.

Watermills had been established on nearly all the sites mentioned in this article by the time of the Domesday survey in 1086 and since the technology dates back to the
Romans many of the mills may predate Domesday by centuries. Windmills were not developed in this country until the end of the twelfth century, by which time there would not have been any suitable sites available for new water-mills on our stretch of the Colne. The actual mill buildings were rebuilt with some frequency as they were of their very nature subject to damage by flood and extremes of weather, quite apart from their propensity to burn down.

The geography of North Essex does not lend itself to fast flowing rivers and the Colne is both short and undramatic. Yet by the time of Domesday there were 33 mills on the Colne and its tributaries. In what is the driest part of the country, insufficient water must have been a perpetual problem, especially in the upper reaches.

This article deals only with mills on the Colne within the CSCSI (Colne-Stour Countryside Association Sphere of Influence!) i.e. from the source somewhere near Steeple Bumpstead to the fringes of Colchester.

In 1086 all the mills would probably have been milling grain, but since wind and water were the only sources of power other than muscles, the mills were adapted over the centuries to mill oil (Wakes Colne), for fulling (Langley), for producing paper (Greenstead Green appears to be the only one, and that is on the Bourne Brook, a tiny tributary of the Colne) and, ultimately, for spinning and weaving (Halstead). Fulling was the process whereby cloth was hammered to give it more body. Before fulling it would have been possible to see through the woven cloth. Many mills were used for both milling and fulling simultaneously.


Alderford Mill, Sible Hedingham.

The first surviving mill on the Colne is Alderford in Sible Hedingham, but Domesday mentions two others higher up the river at Yeldham and Castle Hedingham. Of Yeldham there is now no trace and even in Domesday it is described as “then one mill”, meaning that there had been a mill there at the time of Edward the Confessor, but that at the time the Survey was written it had for some reason disappeared.

A 1592 map of Castle Hedingham shows the mill just behind Memories, the hideous restaurant which today decorates the entrance to the village from the Halstead – Yeldham road. The mill stream, which has now been filled in, was cut about 50 yards nearer the main road than the present bridge over the Colne and necessitated a second bridge. The mill itself belonged to the Benedictine nunnery which stood on the site of the present Nunnery farm and was founded in the twelfth century by Alberic de Vere the First Earl of Oxford; his wife Lucia becoming first Prioress. The de Veres exacted a toll on anyone crossing the bridge. The ford on the south side of the bridge, which can still be clearly seen, is called Hinck Ford, and gave its name to the Hinckford Hundred which at the time was administered by the de Veres. The only surviving remnant of the mill is a millstone set into the road outside one of the cottages in Nunnery Street. Otherwise both mill and nunnery have disappeared, although, improbably, Hinckford Hundred lives on.

Nowadays the Colne in Yeldham is usually no more than a trickle and it seems unlikely that there would be enough water for a mill at Castle Hedingham, but by the time you get to Sible Hedingham the flow has picked up appreciably. There you will find Alderford Mill, a lovely example of the typical, unpretentious, white, weatherboarded, red roofed, Essex water-mill. The present mill which was built in the 18th century, is the last in a long line dating back to Domesday, and was operated by the Rawlinson family right up to the 1960’s. It was bought by Essex County Council in 1994 and they are very slowly doing it up with the intention, eventually, of opening it to the public. At present it is only open when the moon is blue, but it is also open on National Mill Day which in 2006 fell on the second Sunday in September and that is when I went.

As it was such an auspicious day, Geoffrey Wood the County Mills Officer was there to oversee things. He is a mill-wright by profession, a mine of information on all things to do with milling, and has responsibility for getting the machinery back into working order. The two main jobs still to be done are to rebuild the wheel and to equip it with a new shaft or axle. The shaft is about 2 foot in diameter and weighs approximately a ton. The new one is being made from French oak – sadly English silviculture is no longer up to the job. Give Mr Wood another 2 or 3 years and the wheel should be turning again. Let’s hope that the Health and Safety busybodies will allow us to go and see it in action.


Hull’s Mill by Eric Ravilious.
(Courtesy of the Fry Gallery)

Inside the mill, whitewashed to provide as much light as possible to reduce the need for naked lights, which in the dusty atmosphere might have blown the whole place sky high, there were originally 5 sets of stones. Two were operated by the wheel and a further 3 were added when steam power was introduced. Finally a diesel engine replaced steamand operated a number of roller milling machines. In the 1880’s the introduction of roller milling technology from Hungary marked the beginning of the end for the water-mills. Although wholemeal flour continued to be made by stone milling, a pair of stones could only produce about 1 hundredweight of flour an hour whereas a roller milling machine could produce about 5 times that. Outside, the mill has been beautifully re-roofed and repainted.

The intrepid can now walk a mile and a half or so down the river to Hull’s Mill in the parish of Great Maplestead. It is a beautiful walk and you will be amply rewarded when you get there. Hull’s Mill is the most picturesque of all the surviving mills in the Colne Valley, thanks to its glorious location, its fine state of preservation and its magnificent ford. It is well known to a wider public thanks to the watercolour by Eric Ravilious which was recently bought by the Fry Gallery in Saffron Walden for £35,000. The footpath from Alderford Mill takes a circuitous route which allows you to approach the mill from the Maplestead side down the lane from Purls Hill. Dr Ronnie Green who lives on the lane the other side of Hull’s Mill has written on it at length as “My Favourite Lane” and it is difficult to think of a more enchanting one in the whole of Essex.

Nearing the bottom of the lane it crosses the old railway, where I am always thrilled to see the notice advising drivers of the weight limit of 8 tons – except buses up to 101/2 tons. Ronnie Green says that to the best of his knowledge and that of the locals no bus has attempted the lane for the past 50 years.

Hull’s Mill is another Domesday mill and remained in operation until 1959. It was rebuilt for the last time in 1848 and from 1917-1959 was operated by Hovis Ltd.


Box Mill circa 1900.

Both the mill and the lane were then renamed Hovis and although Hovis had to keep up with technology and removed the wheel, which was replaced with a turbine,they were enlightened owners and kept the exterior of the mill in first rate condition. It has subsequently been converted into a rather fine house. The original and very beautiful fifteenth century mill house stands just the other side of the exceedingly narrow road. The ford on the Hedingham side of the mill always has a reasonable flow of water across it, and sometimes unreasonable. A measuring post gives adventurous motorists a good idea of what their chances of survival are.The next mill down the river, Box Mill on the outskirts of Halstead, is no more, and on the Hedingham side of Box Mill Lane you will find the recently completed barrage designed to prevent flooding in Halstead. The mill and mill house were torn down in the 1920’s, the adjacent windmill having been blown into the river in 1882. No sign now of the idyllic scene that decorated the front cover of our 2005 newsletter. All you will find is a sea of nettles which envelops one of the Colne’s most neglected stretches. Not that things were anyway always idyllic. In 1889 the miller, John Ruffle, caught his beard in the machinery and was squashed.
The other mill in Halstead, now called Townsford Mill, is the place where the Courtauld textile empire really took off, (after smaller beginnings in Pebmarsh and Bocking). The mill, a magnificent white, weather-boarded building (and now a star of television), sits astride the river in the centre of Halstead, and from the outside is very much unchanged from the middle of the nineteenth century.

There used to be constant disputes between the Town mill and Box mill over the use of water, as when the Town mill built up its working level, the water level at Box mill rose to the point that the efficiency of the mill was reduced by as much as 50%. In 1825 when Samuel Courtauld bought the Town mill, he put in a new wheel and matters ended up at the Essex Summer Assize. The jury found unanimously in favour of Box mill, but it was awarded damages of only one shilling which seems a trifle mean, since Box had found itself unable to start the day’s work until the Town mill had been operating for two or three hours and had thereby reduced the water level. Courtauld then went over to steam and the Town mill was adapted for silk weaving. A power loom factory was built in 1832 and by the 1890’s the business employed about 1400 people. Most of the factory buildings were demolished following the closure of the business in 1982, but the mill itself, one of the finest industrial buildings in East Anglia, lives on as an antique emporium and café.


Halstead’s Townsford Mill.

Langley mill, the next down the river and sometimes described as the third Halstead mill, was never in Halstead but the relentless advance of factories along the west bank of the river makes it look as if it soon might be. The mill house remains, and the mill itself has also been turned into a house in rather unsympathetic yellow painted brick. This is a pity as the mill stream still runs under the house and the view from the Colne Engaine road is otherwise a very attractive one.

Just over half a mile below Langley you come to Ford Mill, also called White’s, after the miller there for the last 50 years before it was demolished in 1917. From the road you would never know that the tiny, fairy-tale house (now added on to) which probably dates back to the 16th century was once a mill house. The Environment Agency have recently done a lot of restoration work on the mill race and reinstalled the wheel, though not the mill building which used to house it (see photo).


Ford Mill – the surviving mill house.

Further down the river in Earls Colne, the Priory used to have a mill next to Colneford bridge on the main Colchester road. The mill which was built by the monks in about 1100, was burnt down in the early part of the last century, though the handsome 18th century mill house and part of the mill pool remain. A lease in the Essex Records Office dated 1881 from John Cawardine, the owner of Colne Priory to Henry Hills, included in addition to the mill, some stables, a brewhouse, a chaisehouse and a cowhouse. However the miller was forbidden to keep geese or swans on the river or mill pond. (This was in case he let them eat other people’s grain. In medieval times, millers, who were generally thought to be pretty unscrupulous, were limited by ordinance to three hens and a cock). The Colneford miller was also forbidden to erect or use any steam engine as the inhabitants of the priory might have found the noise injurious to their well-being. This no doubt contributed to the early demise of the mill.


Ford Mill also called Whites. Circa 1910.

The other mill in Earls Colne is Chalkney, well known to countless people who kennel their dogs with Sarah Coleman. The setting is amazingly secluded and the river and water meadows have a gloriously old-fashioned feel about them. The mill, originally used for fulling, was a wreck in the 1970’s, but has been most successfully restored as a pair of cottages.

Henry Hills, mentioned above, owned Chalkney, Ford and Overshot mills (the latter is on the Peb) and in the 1870’s attended in London the first exhibition at which roller mills were demonstrated. He came back and told the manager at Chalkney that “they were out of business, sure as fate”. He wasn’t far wrong.


Chalkney Mill.

The introduction of roller mills coincided with the import of large quantities of foreign wheat and sounded the death knell for the average water mill.The introduction of steam meant that water power was no longer necessary and before long all the business gravitated to rolling mills situated near ports or rail-heads.

Just over a mile below Chalkney one comes to Wakes Colne – a very different kettle of fish. The main mill building which is huge, brick and businesslike, was rebuilt in the 19th century after the top had been blown off the old mill in a dust explosion. It flanked a smaller oil mill and both have now been turned into houses. The builders of the corn mill seem to have been rather overambitious, as it was designed to operate five sets of stones but there was never enough water for more than three. It was impossible to fit in all five sets of stones without taking a considerable chunk out of the miller’s house next door which consequently had to be rebuilt. Although the oil mill (which used principally to produce linseed oil), closed in the 1930’s, the corn mill continued in business right up to 1974. Even after that, the Ashbys, (who had operated the corn mill) have continued in business as coal merchants to the present day.

Below Wakes Colne there were three more mills before West Bergholt and the outskirts of Colchester. All three mills have disappeared although the mill houses survive. The mill at Ford Street was demolished in the 1920’s but the mill house can be found just over the bridge on the opposite side of the road from the Leg of Mutton. An early 20th century photo shows the four storied mill building astride the river with a tall chimney beside it. A public footpath now runs alongside the house and the former mill race (which is lovely) until one ends up in the Mill Race Garden Centre.


Wakes Colne Mill from the back.

Lower Mill at Fordham, also known as Hammonds is easy to miss, being hidden at the bottom of the hill as one comes out of Fordham on the right hand side of the road before one crosses the river. Once again the mill itself has disappeared, although photographs show the long mill building dwarfing the house which nowadays stands alone and looks uncomfortably truncated.

Cook’s Mill, the last mill on our stretch of river, disappeared in the 19th century. The site is nevertheless very much worth visiting, the fine 18th century mill  house being set in truly idyllic surroundings. It is approached down a steep hill from Fordham Heath and the last hundred yards or so must be completed on foot as the public road gives out and is replaced by a footpath which runs through the gardens of the house. It is impossible to tell where the mill buildings were, but the setting is as romantic as any on the Colne.

Having rashly said that I would write an article on water mills on the Colne, I soon found that I had bitten off rather more than my readers might be expected to chew. To cover my subject adequately would require an article at least twice as long as this. I have therefore deliberately not dealt with the technical aspects of milling, fascinating though they are, as they are covered in impressive detail by the late Hervey Benham in his wonderful book “Some Essex

Water Mills”.
JEREMY HILL

2023 - Read about the wonderful new gallery being built in Sudbury for Gainsborough's masterpieces; follow the trail of a tireless local environmental campaigner; get ready for the second EA cultural festival, the Bures music festival and Opera at Layer Marney; discover the beautiful garden of Holm House with its wildflower meadow and lake; travel through the Colne valley along the Gainsborough line; find out where you can get local financial advice; enjoy an illustrated walk in the Stour Valley; and read our Chairman's update on proposed housing developments, solar farms, and the National Grid's Bramford to Twinstead electricity grid reinforcement project. 

2022 - Read about the wonderful new gallery being built in Sudbury for Gainsborough's masterpieces; follow the trail of a tireless local environmental campaigner; get ready for the second EA cultural festival, the Bures music festival and Opera at Layer Marney; discover the beautiful garden of Holm House with its wildflower meadow and lake; travel through the Colne valley along the Gainsborough line; find out where you can get local financial advice; enjoy an illustrated walk in the Stour Valley; and read our Chairman's update on proposed housing developments, solar farms, and the National Grid's Bramford to Twinstead electricity grid reinforcement project. 

2022 Magazine
Year: 2022
Chairman’s Letter
Year: 2022
Rebel with a cause
Year: 2022
A National Centre for Thomas Gainsborough’s Masterpieces
Year: 2022
EA Festival at Hedingham Castle
Category: Culture
Year: 2022
The Gainsborough Line
Category: Adventure. Travel, Explore Colne Stour
Year: 2022
Music, Mischief and Mayhem – Opera at Layer Marney
Year: 2022
Bures Music Festival
Year: 2022
Holm House Gardens in Suffolk
Year: 2022

2020 - Welcome to our 2020 lockdown edition - only published ONLINE. Read about the wonderful Alfred Munnings Exhibition "Behind the Lines"; find out how the beavers have been getting on at the Spains Hall Estate in Finchingfield, introduced back into Essex after an absence of 400 years; explore the link between Ferriers in Bures and the Voyage of the Mayflower, the Salem Witch trials and Wampum belts; read a fascinating interview with Carl Shillingford, talented Michelin chef and keen local forager; and enjoy a celebratory update from Ken Forrester on South African wines and his support for a wonderful local school.  

2020 Magazine
Year: 2020
Chairman’s Letter
Year: 2020
Behind the Lines: Alfred Munnings, War Artist
Category: Art, Culture
Year: 2020
The Foragers Retreat – Michelin chef in Pebmarsh.
Category: Food, Nature
Year: 2020
Dam Good Job – Beavers back in Essex after 400 years.
Category: Explore Colne Stour, Nature
Year: 2020
Ferriers – a Bures house and its connection to the Mayflower.
Category: Adventure. Travel, Architectural Interest, Culture, History
Year: 2020
Three special milestones for Ken Forrester Wines  
Category: Brewing, distilling and wine
Year: 2020

2019 - Read about Tudor living on a grand scale at Alston Court, how Samuel Courtauld & Co. shaped our towns and villages, hear inspiring stories of local vineyards Tuffon Hall and West Street, get an update on the Dedham Vale AONB extension, and take a tour round Polstead Mill, one of East Anglia's beautiful secret gardens. 

Chairman’s Letter
Year: 2019
Dedham Vale AONB extension
Year: 2019
The Tuffon Hall Transformation
Category: Brewing, distilling and wine
Year: 2019
A Hong Kong racehorse in an Essex field
Category: Nature
Year: 2019
Andy Gentle – A chainsaw love affair
Category: Business
Year: 2019
A vivid insight into Tudor living on the grand scale.
Category: Architectural Interest, History
Year: 2019
Underground Moats & Zinc Cathedrals
Category: Brewing, distilling and wine
Year: 2019
Secret Gardens of East Anglia – Polstead Mill
Category: Gardens
Year: 2019
Repairing the damage of a supermarket delivery van
Year: 2019
How Samuel Courtauld and Co. shaped our towns and villages
Category: Architectural Interest, Culture, History
Year: 2019
Ken Forrester
Year: 2019
CSCA Photography Competition
Year: 2019
Garden Visits
Category: Gardens
Year: 2019
Treasurer’s Report
Year: 2019

2018 - Read about Hedingham Castle, a new National Centre for Gainsborough in Sudbury, award-winning new Gins from Adnams, aspects of our Industrial Heritage, the Theatre Royal in Bury St Edmunds, the Dedham Vale AONB and Stour Valley Project, and take a look at the proposed new Constitution for CSCA.. 

Chairmans Letter April 2018
Category: Annual, News, Planning Issues
Year: 2018
History of the Theatre Royal, Bury St Edmunds
Category: Architectural Interest, Art, Culture, History
Year: 2018
Another Suffolk Success Story – Time for a G & T?
Category: Brewing, distilling and wine
Year: 2018
Some more aspects of our Industrial Heritage
Category: Agricultural, Brewing, distilling and wine, History
Year: 2018
An Earl’s Tower
Category: Architectural Interest, History
Year: 2018
A Castle Reborn
Category: Architectural Interest, History
Year: 2018
Dedham Vale AONB and Stour Valley Project
Category: Explore Colne Stour, Nature, Planning Issues
Year: 2018
A National Centre for Gainsborough set within the town where he was born and the landscape that inspired him
Category: Architectural Interest, Art, History
Year: 2018
Garden Visits
Category: Gardens, History
Year: 2018
Treasurer’s Report
Category: Treasurer’s Report
Year: 2018
New Constitution
Year: 2018
Editor’s Notes
Category: Editors notes
Year: 2018

2017 - Read about our local industrial heritage, Paycocke's House history, why heritage matters, the art of Alfred Munnings, a haunted house in Lamarsh, celebrating Gainsborough, the beauty of recreating Cedric Morris's Iris collection and a small wine snippet from Ken Forrester. 

Chairmans Letter April 2017
Category: Annual, News, Planning Issues
Year: 2017
Heritage Matters
Category: Architectural Interest, History
Year: 2017
Some aspects of our Industrial Heritage
Category: History
Year: 2017
Paycocke’s House: a witness to history
Category: Explore Colne Stour, History
Year: 2017
The House of his Dreams: Reimagining The Munnings Art Museum
Category: Art, Explore Colne Stour, History
Year: 2017
‘The Haunted House’ of Lamarsh – Some Early Reflections
Category: History
Year: 2017
Gainsborough’s House: Celebrating the Past and Looking to the Future
Category: Art, Explore Colne Stour, History
Year: 2017
Another, highly unusual, Suffolk Success Story
Category: Gardens, Nature
Year: 2017
Garden Visits 2017
Category: Gardens, Nature
Year: 2017
Dirty Little Secret
Category: Brewing, distilling and wine
Year: 2017
Website
Category: News
Year: 2017
Editor’s Notes
Category: Editors notes
Year: 2017
Treasurer’s Report
Category: Treasurer’s Report
Year: 2017

2016 - Interesting articles on medieval graffiti, farming in the Stour Valley, exploring our AONB, early settlers from the Stour Valley to America, the archaeology of a local farm, a wonderful catalogue of British birds, celebrating a Suffolk joinery business, the weather from a South African winery. 

Chairmans Letter
Category: Annual
Year: 2016
Medieval Graffiti: the hidden histories…
Category: History
Year: 2016
Stour Valley Farming
Category: Business
Year: 2016
The Godly Kingdom of the Stour Valley
Category: History
Year: 2016
Keeping It Special in the Dedham Vale Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) and Stour Valley Project
Category: Nature
Year: 2016
Lodge Farm, Rectory Road, Wyverstone Street, Suffolk
Category: Architectural Interest, History
Year: 2016
A Miscellany of Information about British Birds
Category: Nature
Year: 2016
Another Suffolk Success Story
Category: Business
Year: 2016
Garden Visits
Category: Gardens
Year: 2016
Harvest, Fires and Fynbos
Category: Brewing, distilling and wine
Year: 2016
LOOKING FORWARDS, BEFORE I GET LEFT BEHIND….
Category: Brewing, distilling and wine
Year: 2016
EDITOR’S NOTES
Category: Editors notes
Year: 2016
Annual General Meeting and Summer Party
Category: A.G.M.
Year: 2016
TREASURER’S REPORT
Category: Treasurer’s Report
Year: 2016

2015 - The life and times of a flint knapper. A continuation about the history of the ancient farm at Henny and a visit to the inside of Alston Court, Nayland as well as an insight into The Antiques Roadshow.  

Chairman’s Letter – February 2015
Category: Annual
Year: 2015
Caught Knapping
Category: History
Year: 2015
ALSTON COURT
Category: Architectural Interest, History
Year: 2015
ORGANIC MUTTERINGS
Category: Brewing, distilling and wine
Year: 2015
THE STORY OF SPARROW’S FARM, GREAT HENNY – PART 2
Category: History
Year: 2015
ON AND OFF THE ANTIQUES ROADSHOW
Category: Business
Year: 2015
UNLOCKING THE ARTIST WITHIN: FINE ART LANDSCAPE PHOTOGRAPHY
Category: Art, Explore Colne Stour
Year: 2015
BADGERS – LOVE’EM, OR HATE’EM?
Category: Nature
Year: 2015
GARDEN VISITS
Category: Gardens
Year: 2015
FORRESTER VINEYARDS, SOUTH AFRICA
Category: Brewing, distilling and wine
Year: 2015
EDITOR’S NOTES
Category: Editors notes
Year: 2015
TREASURER’S REPORT
Category: Treasurer’s Report
Year: 2015

2014 - A hair-raising flight from UK to South Africa and an insight into the Wineries of Stellenbosch. An exceptional old mill just outside Bures and a most unusual chapel on the hill behind, as well as a time warp farm at Henny. 

Chairman’s Letter – February 2014
Category: Annual
Year: 2014
ST. STEPHEN’S CHAPEL, BURES
Category: History
Year: 2014
THE STELLENBOSCH WINE ROUTE – THE PEOPLE AND THE DOGS!
Category: Brewing, distilling and wine
Year: 2014
THE UPS AND DOWNS OF A FLIGHT TO STELLENBOSCH AND BACK
Category: Adventure. Travel
Year: 2014
A SUFFOLK SUCCESS STORY – JIM LAWRENCE LTD
Category: Business
Year: 2014
HOLD FARM, BURES ST MARY; A RARE TUDOR WATERMILL
Category: Architectural Interest
Year: 2014
THE STORY OF SPARROW’S FARM, GREAT HENNY
Category: History
Year: 2014
YOUR COUNTRYSIDE – FIGHT FOR IT NOW! your Britain fight for it now
Category: Planning Issues
Year: 2014
TUNBRIDGEWARE
Category: History
Year: 2014
EXTENDING THE DEDHAM VALE AREA OF OUTSTANDING NATURAL BEAUTY (AONB) – UPDATE
Category: News, Planning Issues
Year: 2014
GARDEN VISITS
Category: Annual, Gardens
Year: 2014
EDITOR’S NOTES
Category: Editors notes
Year: 2014
TREASURER’S REPORT
Category: Treasurer’s Report
Year: 2014

2013 - Watermills on the Stour. How Constable and Gainsborough would have seen many of the buildings in our area. Let’s protect the Stour Valley by extending the AONB from where we take over from The Dedham Vale at Wormingford towards Sudbury. 

Chairman’s Letter – February 2013
Category: Annual
Year: 2013
THE WATERMILLS OF THE RIVER STOUR
Category: Architectural Interest, History
Year: 2013
MANAGING A MASTERPIECE: THE STOUR VALLEY LANDSCAPE PARTNERSHIP
Category: Art, History
Year: 2013
EXTENDING THE DEDHAM VALE AREA OF OUTSTANDING NATURAL BEAUTY (AONB)
Category: Planning Issues
Year: 2013
BUILDINGS IN THE EAST ANGLIAN LANDSCAPE – AS SEEN BY JOHN CONSTABLE
Category: Art, History
Year: 2013
THE ROUND CHURCH AT MAPLESTEAD
Category: Architectural Interest, History
Year: 2013
THE FINE WINES OF ENGLAND
Category: Brewing, distilling and wine
Year: 2013
PROGRESS AGAINST PYLONS: A ROUNDUP OF RECENT DEVELOPMENTS IN THE PYLONS SAGA
Category: Planning Issues
Year: 2013
TEA AND THE TEA CADDY A BRIEF STUDY OF THE EARLY HISTORY OF TEA AND ITS CONTAINERS
Category: History
Year: 2013
GARDEN VISITS
Category: Annual, Gardens
Year: 2013
EDITOR’S NOTES
Category: Editors notes
Year: 2013
TREASURER’S REPORT
Category: Treasurer’s Report
Year: 2013

2012 - A walk through many of the churches along the River Stour and how the Romans once lived right here in our midst, and how your pint is brewed. Also the ongoing fight to rid the Stour of the blight of Pylons. 

CHAIRMAN’S LETTER – FEBRUARY 2012
Category: Annual
Year: 2012
TREES R US – AN AMATEUR ARBORETUM
Category: Nature
Year: 2012
GLIMPSES INTO SOME STOUR VALLEY CHURCHES
Category: Explore Colne Stour, History
Year: 2012
THE ART OF BREWING
Category: Brewing, distilling and wine
Year: 2012
PLANNING REFORM
Category: Planning Issues
Year: 2012
‘ELF ‘N SAFETY . . . AND ALL THAT
Category: Explore Colne Stour
Year: 2012
BRINGING OUR PAST TO LIFE: GESTINGTHORPE ROMAN VILLA
Category: History
Year: 2012
MINIATURE OR APPRENTICE PIECE?
Category: History
Year: 2012
GAINSBOROUGH’S VIEW
Category: Art, Explore Colne Stour
Year: 2012
NEW STOUR VALLEY ENVIRONMENT FUND
Category: News
Year: 2012
TREASURER’S REPORT
Category: Treasurer’s Report
Year: 2012
EDITOR’S NOTES
Category: Editors notes
Year: 2012
THE COLNE STOUR COUNTRYSIDE ASSOCIATION. MINUTES OF THE 46TH ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING HELD AT FERRIERS BARN, BURES ON THURSDAY 12TH MAY 2011
Category: A.G.M.
Year: 2012

2011 - The brewers of East Anglia. The gardens of Marks Hall as well as the paintings of Alfred Munnings on display in Sudbury. How a small church became the Cathedral in Bury St Edmunds and all you need to know about antique birdcages. 

CHAIRMAN’S LETTER – APRIL 2011
Category: Annual
Year: 2011
Pylons
Category: Planning Issues
Year: 2011
THE PAINTED CHURCH BECOMES BURY’S CATHEDRAL
Category: History
Year: 2011
MARKS HALL AND THE PHILLIPS PRICE TRUST
Category: History
Year: 2011
BREWING IN EAST ANGLIA
Category: Brewing, distilling and wine
Year: 2011
BURES MILL OVER NINE CENTURIES
Category: Architectural Interest, History
Year: 2011
LANDSCAPES BY MUNNINGS EXHIBITION AT GAINSBOROUGH’S HOUSE
Category: Art
Year: 2011
BIRD-CAGES – A FASCINATION
Category: History
Year: 2011
DAWS HALL EVENTS 2011
Category: Annual
Year: 2011
EDITOR’S NOTES
Category: Editors notes
Year: 2011
GARDEN VISITS
Category: Annual, Gardens
Year: 2011
TREASURERS REPORT
Category: Treasurer’s Report
Year: 2011
THE COLNE STOUR COUNTRYSIDE ASSOCIATION. MINUTES OF THE 45TH ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING HELD AT FERRIERS BARN, BURES ON THURSDAY 6TH MAY 2010
Category: A.G.M.
Year: 2011
ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING 2010
Category: A.G.M.
Year: 2011

2010 - An artist who enjoyed his port and a canoe adventure along the Stour. Sudbury’s history and Coggeshall Abbey and a fight to get rid of Pylons from the Stour Valley. 

Chairmans Letter
Category: Annual
Year: 2010
A Pint of Port to Paint a Picture
Category: Art, History
Year: 2010
A Walk Round Coggeshall Abbey
Category: Explore Colne Stour
Year: 2010
By Canoe to Cattawade
Category: Adventure. Travel, Explore Colne Stour
Year: 2010
Nocturnal Visitors
Category: Nature
Year: 2010
Sudbury New Town – c.1330
Category: History
Year: 2010
A Stay in a Nomad’s Tent
Category: Business
Year: 2010
Freeing our countryside of the blight of pylons
Category: Planning Issues
Year: 2010
Hobbies on the Stour
Category: Nature
Year: 2010
Editor’s Notes
Category: Editors notes
Year: 2010
Website
Category: News
Year: 2010
Annual General Meeting 2009
Category: Annual
Year: 2010

2009 - Norwich School art and the Maplesteads. Ancient wallpapers, and is Long Melford the epitome of a Suffolk village? and don’t throw away a rug before checking what it is. 

Chairmans Letter
Category: Annual
Year: 2009
By Hook or by Crook
Category: Art, History
Year: 2009
Unwanted Wildlife – Some Handy Hints
Category: Gardens
Year: 2009
East Ruston Old Vicarage
Category: Gardens
Year: 2009
Squash a Squirrel – Save a Tree
Category: Nature
Year: 2009
Historic Wallpapers and Cole & Son
Category: Business
Year: 2009
Long Melford – ‘Suffolk in a day’
Category: Architectural Interest, Explore Colne Stour, History
Year: 2009
Don’t throw away a fortune!
Category: Business
Year: 2009
Garden Visits. Away Days
Category: Gardens
Year: 2009
Website
Category: Annual
Year: 2009
Editors Notes
Category: Editors notes
Year: 2009
Annual General Meeting 2008
Category: Annual
Year: 2009

2008 - The bell founders of Sudbury and all about a rogue from our area, Sir John Hawkwood, and a Sudbury secret – Gainsborough’s House. 

Member’s Letter
Category: Annual
Year: 2008
Cycling in Suffolk – An Environmental Holiday
Category: Explore Colne Stour
Year: 2008
The Sudbury Bell Founders
Category: History
Year: 2008
The CSCA Website
Category: News
Year: 2008
From Sible Hedingham to Florence. The Remarkable Life of Sir John Hawkwood
Category: History
Year: 2008
‘One of Suffolk’s Best Kept Secrets’- Gainsborough’s House, Sudbury
Category: Art, Explore Colne Stour
Year: 2008
Discovering Historic Wallpaper in East Anglian Houses
Category: History
Year: 2008
The not so humble Mole (Talpa Europaea) and how to catch him
Category: Nature
Year: 2008
Annual Report 2007.
Category: Annual
Year: 2008

2007 - Why a bell had to be chipped to get into the belfry at Lamarsh. Watermills on the Colne and Dragonflies. 

Water Mills on the Upper Colne
Category: Architectural Interest, History
Year: 2007
Dragonflies on the Stour
Category: Nature
Year: 2007
Lamarsh Bell Restoration
Category: Architectural Interest
Year: 2007
The CSCA Website
Category: News
Year: 2007
What is wrong with our Horse Chestnuts?
Category: Nature
Year: 2007

Join Colne-Stour now

WEBSITE EDITOR

Emma Stewart-Smith

MAGAZINE EDITOR

Christy Simson

CHAIRMAN

Alexander Robson

HON TREASURER

Michael Goodbody

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