Combe Mill

Combe Mill is a historic sawmill situated adjacent to the River Evenlode (at grid reference SP417150) close to Combe railway station, between the villages of Combe and Long Hanborough in Oxfordshire, England.

The mill was restored in the early 1970s and is now open to the public. Originally powered by a waterwheel, there is now a beam engine.

History

In about 1912 the engine ceased working, presumably because of a fault which either could not be repaired or was considered not worth repairing, and the beam engine then lay idle until its restoration. The waterwheel was replaced in 1934 with a metal one and the shaft replaced by the present timber one. It continued to function until the 1950s, when electric power was eventually brought to the mill. It was the principal source of power for the mill for about forty years, except for a time during the First World War when the government installed auxiliary stationary steam engines to cope with the war effort. When the wheel eventually ceased to be used the leat was filled in and the sluices buried in the mid 1960s.

In 1969 a working party from the City and County Museum (now the County Museum) at Woodstock surveyed the site and began negotiations with the Duke of Marlborough with a view to restoring the beam engine and its boiler. Three years later in September 1972 the efforts of the volunteers were rewarded when the engine was successfully steamed for the first time in sixty years. The Combe Mill Society was formed and the mill first opened to the public in 1975. Since then restoration has progressed steadily and expanded to include other aspects of the mill in addition to the beam engine.

The Mill still contains several historic trade catalogues from which hardware was once selected for use around the Blenheim Estate. It also still has several day books dating from the mid-19th century which record the names of workers and details of their earnings and day-to-day jobs.

The Mill is open between March and October and in steam on the third Sunday of these months. Schools and community groups may book visits at any time. The Mill has a working forge, where visitors can have the opportunity to make their own poker.

External links

Official website

Coordinates: 51°49′56.64″N 1°23′48.3″W / 51.8324000°N 1.396750°W / 51.8324000; -1.396750

Museums and galleries in Oxfordshire

City of Oxford	Ashmolean Museum Bate Collection of Musical Instruments Christ Church Picture Gallery Modern Art Oxford Museum of the History of Science Museum of Oxford Oxford University Press Museum University of Oxford Botanic Garden Oxford Castle Oxford University Museum of Natural History Pitt Rivers Museum Science Oxford The Story Museum

Region	Abingdon County Hall Museum Ashdown House Banbury Museum Benson Veteran Cycle Museum Blenheim Palace Bloxham Village Museum Broughton Castle Buscot Park Bygones Museum Champs Chapel Museum of East Hendred Charlbury Museum Chastleton House Chipping Norton Museum Churchill and Sarsden Heritage Centre Cogges Manor Farm Combe Mill Didcot Railway Centre Dorchester Abbey Museum Greys Court Hook Norton Brewery Museum Hook Norton Village Museum Kelmscott Manor Mapledurham House Mapledurham Watermill Oxford Bus Museum Oxfordshire Museums Resource Centre The Oxfordshire Museum Pendon Museum Project Timescape River and Rowing Museum Soldiers of Oxfordshire Museum Stonor Park Swalcliffe Barn Swinford Museum Thame Museum Tolsey Museum Tom Brown's School Museum Vale and Downland Museum Wallingford Museum Waterperry Museum of Rural Life Witney and District Museum

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