Mullen y Quinney

Introduction

This report would appear to have originated under the banner of the Industrial Archaeology section of the Fieldwork group in the IoMNH&ASoc - the late Dr Larch Garrad, then on the staff of the Manx Museum, was one of the driving forces within this group which seemed to be particularly active in the late 1960's and early 70s. They published a small booklet on the Industrial Archaeology of the Island which quickly sold out but this attracted the publishers David & Charles to commission a book on the Island's Industrial Archaeology which has remained a main reference now for some 50 years. This publication in 1972 would appear to be the zenith of the group's activities.

This report is dated September 1970, the author would appear to be at the time an undergraduate student at a Cambridge college - in 1971 he also produced a detailed work on the Lhen Mill in Andreas.

Judging from the inserted editorial remarks this typescript would appear to have been circulated to members of the group - it is now held by the Manx Museum originally as MD 809 but now catalogued as MS 08133.

MULLEN Y QUINNEY MILL,SANTON

M.C.P.Apps (Exhibitioner of Queen's College, Cambridge )

A Historical and topographical study

The mill, situated on the Santon river SC(24)302712 and called Mullen y Quinney on the latest 6" O.S. map, has been known by many names in the course of its existence.- Quinney's mill (Manorial Roll 1703), Mulen de Cunie (Wood's Tour 1811 & Fannin's map of 1787), Mulen de Cinn (Quiggin's 1830 map), Mullinaquinney (Pigot's Directory 1843) and many slightly differing spellings of the last. There has been a mill on this site at least since 1507 when William Quyn and John Lowy pay the Lord's rent for the mill. (Editor's note: the old name of the Santon river was Cornaa = 'mill river', an indication of the probable antiquity of the site.) In subsequent manorial rolls the rents are paid by John Wode (1511), John Quinney (1523), William Quinney and John Loney ? (1523) and William Quinney (1590). In these early documents there is no indication of the precise site of the mill the entry being merely under Santon parish. The mill remained the property of the Quinney family until 1680 passing through Thomas Quinney (1600) and John Quinney (1629-78 - there may be more than one John Quinney) to Ann Quinney and her husband, John Brew. It is known that the last John Quinney died prior to 1684. Members of the Brew family own the mill until 1888.

John Brew, the husband of the last Quinney, died in 1709 and the property passed to his son, Thomas, who had been paying the mill rent jointly with his father since 1703. Thomas' goods are tabulated in an appendage to his father's will and the information includes his ownership of "½ mill stone 12s 6d" and the fact that he had to pay a debt of his father's, £9, to John Moore. Thomas Brew died in 1712. His will declares that his widow, Isabel, is to live in the mill, and keep it in good repair, for her lifetime. She died in 1736. During this period their son, another John, pays the mill rent and continues to do so until his death in 1752 - aged 54 ?, he was christened in 1797. The size of the rent, twenty shillings, may indicate that there was more than one mill but no direct proof of this survives. (Note: John Wode of the 1511 manorial roll also had a tuck mill. Although the early ordnance survey maps indicate a tuck mill downstream from Mullin y Quinney this is unlikely to have occupied the site of Wode's, which also paid a high rent.)

John Brew died in 1752, while his son, Thomas, was a minor and so the estate was looked after (until 1757) by Christopher Cowley, one of the 'trustees appointed'. In his will John instructed his executors to rebuild the house 'this summer season' (when milling was likely to be infrequent because of a shortage of water) and the mill 'the next summer season'.,'and to slate and roof the same with the timber already prepared for the purpose'. During 1753-7 the executors receive £75 15 0 and spend £38 6 11½ including :-

and other monies for the hire of workmen,their drink,and the hire of horses.

Thomas Brew reached his majority in 1757 - he was christened in 1739 - and his name subsequently appears in the manorial roll. He married, in due course, Elisabeth Harrison and fathered two sons, John and William, and four daughters. In 1806 he gave his elder son, John, the mill by deed of settlement but John pre-deceased his father and the mill passed to his grandson, another Thomas. Thomas, senior, pays the mill rent until 1816 - two years before his death. Thomas, junior,remained the owner until his death in 1867 when it passed to Ann Brew and her husband, Thomas Cowin of Ballacreetch Mill Onchan.

It would appear that during the lifetime of the younger Thomas Brew the mill was only working intermittently although his directory entry in 1852 and 1857 does describe him as a miller - earlier he merely called himself a farmer. In 1840 he used the mill as security and his creditors, J. Heywood and J. Hay, payed the mill rent 1840-70. The Cowins employed a tenant miller, John Cowley of Malew, probably 1871-1882. They borrowed a considerable sum in 1867 part of which may have been spent on improvements to this mill but after her husband's death Ann was forced to sell the mill, to Thomas Kinrade of Peel, and the rest of the land.

Although Thomas Kinrade called himself a miller in 1894 his will describes him as a farmer. It appears that the mill ceased commercial work at the end of the First World War although its owner occasionally used it to grind meal after that time. It was subsequently kept in repair and used as a store and, after the last sale, converted into a trout hatchery.

The present Stone-built mill has a slate roof and an internal wheel. It is fairly typical of Manx country mills being provided with three sets of stones, flour dressers (two removed in 1945, one surviving until 1970), an oatmeal sieve and, an important feature in a wet and westerly climate, a kiln. The wheel (12' diameter, 4' wide) has a cast iron axle and rim and wooden struts and buckets.

The drive appears to be a modification of that described by D.H. Jones with the gear wheel in contact with the pit wheel and that with the wallower. A very full description of the gearing and the state of the mill will be deposited in the Manx Museum. Regrettably all the surviving fittings are likely to be removed in the near future.

Field Organiser's note: A study of John Wode and the tuck mill is still needed to determine its location. Any volunteers ?

Notes [fpc]

The settlement by Thomas Brew on his son John was in 1800 [SSS May 1801 #33] by which John was to pay £400 to his parents but a second settlement in 1803 [SSS Oct 1807 #40] undid the 1800 settlement and for £200 (£100 at execution of settlement and the other £100 to executors of parents) John was to get halfof Mullen y Quinney immediately (explicitly naming the corn mill + millers house) but not Callister's croft - the other half was to be obtained at the death of both parents tho' if Thomas predeceased his wife she was to enjoy the whole rights to the mill during her viduity

		Water powered Mills etc
Any comments, errors or omissions gratefully received The Editor © F.Coakley , 2023