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Image courtesy of Cambridgeshire Collection (jpj42227)

The Mill, [42 – 68] Mill Road, Cambridge

The story of the Mill that gave Mill Road its name

The Mill Road windmill may date back to as early as the 13th century, but much about its site and structure remains speculative, only glimpsed in documents and illustrations.

It is not until the late 18th century that clear evidence exists of the site, and it is only with the demolition of the last mill in 1844 that some idea of the mechanics of the final brick mill are revealed in the sale details.

But despite our shadowy knowledge of its past, the windmill has given its name to a major Cambridge arterial road whose surrounding streets were home to 18,000 people at the start of the 21st century. Many of these people will tell their friends they live in the ‛Mill Road area’, but only a few pause to ask ‛Where was the Mill?’

Timeline

unknown-c.1786 – Post Mill
1792/93–1844 – Brick Tower Mill
c.1845–present – Residential and Commercial Properties. These properties are now numbered from 42 to 68 Mill Road.

Further information

 

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Licence

This work is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

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Capturing Cambridge makes accessible thousands of photos and memories of Cambridge and its surrounding villages and towns. It is run by the Museum of Cambridge which, though 90 years old, is one of the most poorly publicly funded local history museums in the UK. It receives no core funding from local or central government nor from the University of Cambridge.

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Museum of Cambridge