Letheringsett Brewery watermill
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Letheringsett Brewery Watermill: the cascade and waterwheel tunnel built 1783–84, with the bridge of 1818
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| Watermill | |
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| Architectural style | Flint and brick with Norfolk ridge-pattern pantile roof |
| Location | Beside the River Glaven in Letheringsett, near the town of Holt; Norfolk, England |
| Owner | William Hardy 1784–1797 William Hardy junior 1797–1842 William Hardy Cozens-Hardy 1842–77 Cozens-Hardy & Son 1877–96 Morgans Brewery Co. Ltd 1896–43 |
| Coordinates | TG061388 52°54′26″N 1°03′49″E / 52.9072°N 1.0637°ECoordinates: 52°54′26″N 1°03′49″E / 52.9072°N 1.0637°E |
| Construction | |
| Built | 1784 within earlier maltings and brewery |
The remains of Letheringsett Brewery Watermill are located in the centre of the village of Letheringsett in the county of Norfolk. The watermill of 1784 was housed within the maltings and brewery complex founded and run by John Brereton of Letheringsett Hall from before 1721. Much of this complex still stands on the south side of the A148 Cromer to King’s Lynn road, which bisects the village on an east-west axis, and on the west bank of the River Glaven, which bisects the village south-north.
The watermill was in operation from 1784 to 1895 or 1896 for crushing malt and to power the pumps throughout the manufacturing and storage complex. It had a far more limited life as a cornmill for grinding wheat, from 1784 to about 1798, as recorded by the wife and mother of the owners, the diarist Mary Hardy. Briefly a ginger beer factory from 1896 to 1906, the complex then ceased all manufacturing. It was converted to housing 2013–15.
The maltings and brewery are documented in the Letheringsett Laviles manor court book which records the manufacturers living in Letheringsett. John Brereton, John Priest and Henry Hagon were the first three maltsters and brewers from before 1721 to 1780.
In November 1780 William Hardy (1732–1811) purchased Letheringsett Hall, 50 acres of farmland and the late Henry Hagon’s maltings, brewery and some of his tied houses for £1610 at auction at Holt. He was a Yorkshireman and a former excise officer; at the time of the purchase he was manager of a maltings and brewery at Coltishall, north-east of Norwich. He and his family moved to Letheringsett on 5 April 1781.
The Hall, malthouse and malt-kilns stood on the riverbank. William Hardy made the bold decision in 1784 to convert his maltings and brewery to water power, all the stages of the work being recorded in his wife’s diary. Until then the malt had been crushed by an elderly horse harnessed in a horse gin.
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