The site of a flour mill is visisble in this location on historic OS maps dating to the later 19th and early 20th centuries. (1-3) The four storey Stembrook Mill was built in 1792 by the Royal Navy to mill flour and the Maison Dieu was converted into a bake house to bake bread for the soldiers so that the increased demand for food from troops stationed in the town, could be met. Stembrook Mill was rebuilt and enlarged in 1799 and again in 1813. There appears to have been a mill on this site since at least the 1780’s. Today the site is occupied by a carpet shop on the corner of Castle Street and Stembrook. The river now runs into a culvert at this point and the former location of the mill can be seen by railings over the culvert entrance. (4)

<1> Landmark, Ordnance Survey 1:2,500 map (OS 1st edition 1862-1875): Landmark Epoch 1 (Map). SKE30964.

<2> Landmark, Ordnance Survey 1:2,500 map (OS 2nd Edition, 1897-1900): Landmark Epoch 2 (Map). SKE30965.

<3> Landmark, 1907-1923, Ordnance Survey 1:2,500 map (OS 3rd Edition, 1907-1923): Landmark Epoch 3 (Map). SKE30966.

<4> Lorraine Sencicle, 2018, The Dover Historian - Stembrook Tannery to Pencester Gardens Part 1 (Website). SKE51677.