Langford Mill

Langford Mill [ref: Z50/71/18]

There has been a mill at the bottom of Mill Lane for over 250 years. It was used for a long time by the Finch and Dane families of Langford. The mill has been powered by water, steam and electricity. From c.1740 to 1861 the mill was used as a paper mill, rather than a flour mill. In the 19th century it was mainly a corn mill until the 20th century when it was stripped of its machinery and turned into a mill for seed and grain.

The Rating and Valuation Act 1925 specified that every building and piece of land in the country was to be assessed to determine its rateable value. The valuer visiting the cottage in 1927 [ref: DV1/C67/33] found it was owned and occupied by H Franklin.

Downstairs there was a water wheelhouse, a small office and storage room. There is a boiler and steam engine both made by Robinson & Son which are noted as being 25 years old.  It is also noted that the steam engine always has to run to work the mill. On the second floor there are elevations for receiving flour, which comes down into sacks and a dressing plant and some storage. This floor also features five sets of roller mills. On the third floor are two purifiers, two rotary sifting machine, a small dressing machine and fan. The fourth floor features six dressing machines, a wheat brush machine and a sack plant.

Outside the mill there is an open cart shed and store, two army huts used as stores, a stable for two, a sack store, an engine shed and a grain store. It is noted that very little goes away by rail, nearly all by lorry.

By the 1980s the mill had ceased working and was later turned into flats.

List of sources at Bedfordshire Archives: 

• HF41/5/8 – Transfer of the Mortgage of Langford Mill, 1884
• HF41/7/2/8 – Cover sheet of conveyance, 1861
• HF41/7/10/8 – Vouchers for repairs at Langford Mill
• HF41/7/10/9 – List of repairs to Langford Mill, 1885-1889