King’s Mill, St Peter’s Vale, Stamford. PE9 2QT
The BCF Equity Partners team has moved into King’s Mill, a former watermill on Bath Row in Stamford, following an extensive refurbishment by Burghley Estates. One of the most historic buildings in the area, a mill was first recorded on the site in the Domesday survey of 1086, and was listed amongst King John’s possessions in the early thirteenth century.
The history of King’s Mill is fascinating. In 1561, Queen Elizabeth I granted her principal secretary, Sir William Cecil K.G., 1st Baron of Burghley, the manor of Stamford plus the water mill in Stamford, called North Mills. When acquired by Sir William Cecil, North Mills were also known as “the Queen’s Mills” and by 1627 the mills were referred to as ‘King’s Mill’.
At the end of the sixteenth and start of the seventeenth centuries, King’s Mill was at the centre of a lengthy dispute, locally. All the inhabitants of Stamford were obliged to grind their corn at King’s Mill or obtain permission to use Stamford’s only other mill - Hudd’s Mill. However, Stamford’s inhabitants were frustrated by the small capacity of the mill and often took their corn to mills in nearby villages to be ground, whilst some even set up querns in their own property. In 1601, Lord Burghley received the Exchequer’s support to defend his monopoly, but the dispute continued with the people of Stamford until 1640 when the Exchequer decreed that all corn must be taken to King’s Mill ‘provided that if it cannot be ground there within eight and forty hours, then they may take it away to be ground elsewhere’. We know the current building was constructed around 1640 so it is likely it was built as a result of this decree, in order to increase the mill’s capacity and maintain Lord Burghley’s monopoly.
Joseph Robinson bought the property, then vacant, in 1784 for £100. He erected a granary on the north side of the mill in 1793, together with other alterations and additions. Thomas Gilchrist later bought King’s Mill upon Robinson’s death in January 1823.
The mill was used up until the early 20th Century and the property is now Grade II listed. In 1967, it was converted into a day care centre for the handicapped before being refurbished by Burghley Estates for Bishopsgate Corporate Finance and its sister company BCF Equity Partners in 2018.