WATER MILLS
Water rises at Wells Head which once fed four water mills all within a quarter of a mile of each other. Gailey Mill lies in the hollow beneath the Downs, there was a mill on this site at the time of the Domesday survey. During the 14th century a mill was farmed out for 16/8d per year. In the 16th century there was a "messuage", that is a dwelling house with outbuildings and land. His was known as Gaylys Mill. There was a Swaynes Mill included in the Manor of Sandford to John Kingsmill in 1540.
Gailey Mill was once owned by the Monks at Bisham Abbey and this was probably in the 16th century when they owned other land in kingsclere. In 1680 John Ffalkner owned the mill and a year later John White owned it. Richard Pilgrim had the mill from 1782 until 1814 and two year later it was owned by John fisher when Richard Herinshaw was the miller. About this time Richard Bradfield came to Gailey Mill and it remained in the Bradfield family for at least three generations, more than 100 years.
The Mill was rebuilt in 1850-60 by the Bradfield family to transform it into a steam mill. The old part had a water wheel ten feet in diameter with an overshot feed and French stones. An extension to the mill was designed by Mr George Mitchell who came from Romsey and was brother in law to Mr Frank Hopkins who was the miller to the Bradfields. The Mill is now a three storey brick building.
The process of milling began with the corn being hoisted to the top of the mill where it was cleaned and tipped into a bin. The corn passed down a shoot into the hopper then travelled along the trough and dropped into the eye of the stone. Flour had to pass through a bolting machine which separated flour from the toppings and bran. The Bradfield family had a roller plant run by an engine with a Wallace and Steven boiler. Four men worked in the mill and large quantities of flour was sold to Mr Sidery, a baker in Swan Street. Deliveries were also made to Baughurst, Basingstoke, Mortimer, Tadley, Silchester and Newbury. Food was ground for Cattle, Pigs and horses.
Because of mechanisation and the imports of grain from overseas the mill closed as a commercial enterprise soon after the First World War. However, wholemeal flour was ground with the stones about 1935 for the owner Captain Wills. An oat crunching machine was used for grinding horse food at Polehampton Stud until about 1960. The old beams in the house were uncovered in 1978 when the house was modernised, At one time they had probably been in a sailing ship.
The second mill on the stream was Town or Pope's Mill, situated between the Old Brewery and Popes Hill. This is shown on the map of 1725 as was Victoria Mill. Joseph Stevens was the miller at Town Mill in 1772. In June 1868 when James Pope resided here his oven caught fire and the blaze spread to the roof. Blankets saturated with water were applied, but the Pope family lost everything and were left with only the clothes they were wearing. Mrs Pope was ill through it and probably did not recover. In the same year Robert Pilgrim and Arthur Meadows lived here, although the latter did not work in the mill. By 1875 the Prior family had the mill and continued with it into the 20th century. After 1911 it was used for storing grain.
Victoria Mill at the bottom of North Street was run by the Sharpe family in 1841 and by 1867 William Prior farmed and had the Mill. By 1903 George W Prior lived there and the premises was known as Victoria House. In the early part of the last war Colonel Lumsden asked for permission to name the house Prior's Mill. Alas the mill was pulled down many years ago and the swimming pool has since been erected on the site.
The last of the water mills in the parish is situated just off Union Lane and was known as Island Mill during the 19th century. It is thought that when the Bradfield family owned both Gailey and Island Mills that the workmen referred to them as Upper and Lower. In the Parish Council's records of 1905 it is called Lower Mill and in recent years the original name has been revived. The house and garden is an island with two sections of water flowing round it.
When Lower Mill was sold in 1967 the Georgian house was dated as being about 1815, although the rear of the house is much older and was probably the miller's cottage. The mill has an iron breast shot wheel which in the past drove two pairs of stones in the main building. The water wheel gave a breast stroke running in an anticlockwise direction, while the mill stones ran clockwise. When repairs had to be done to the wheel it was necessary to use a 5 ton jack.
Frederick Chubb was here in 1855, Michael Westcombe in 1867 who was also the overseer and assessor of taxes. Rev Alfred Bradfield sold it to the Kingsclere District Council in 1905 when my [the authors] Grandfather moved in and it remained in the Foster family until my uncle sold it in 1967. The mill was used to grind the corn of farmers for miles around until after the 1939-45 war when electricity was brought to the farm and some farmers ground their own corn with the help of a tractor. Mechanisation meant rolled barley and crushed oats could be delivered by the corn merchants. My uncle Garrie was the last person to grind corn and he did this until he gave up growing it in 1966.
In 1964 several coaches of visitors arrive d to view the mill. The secretary of one group thought the sack hoist had been made by a local carpenter, who had designed it himself. She was also interested in the weather tiles on the south side of the house. She had only seen one other set of tiles like it and that was in the North of England.

INNS and HOTELS
In the last century there were many more Inns and Hotels than at the present day. Some have been closed and the buildings remain whilst others have been demolished.. The Vyne (on the site of the War Memorial in the present churchyard) was demolished and the land added to the churchyard in 1885. Jockey Wells was buried where the old Vyne cellars would have been.
The Bear Inn was probably at the end of Swan Street at the bottom of Bear Hill. At one time a member of the Wellman family lived there.
The Bolton Arms had George Thumbwood as its landlord in 1871 and he was still there in 1890. By 1920 Mark Bennett was in residence and Daniel Hussey stayed until the public house closed. He was a keen gardener winning prizes at the flower show and an advertisement described the Bolton Arms as being noted for its gardens. The house is now number 46 Swan Street.
The Black Horse was in George Street and William Owen was here in 1880. Richard Lucock in 1890 and Augustus Blissett in 1899. By 1903 Mr Ochme had arrived and he remained until it closed after the First World War. At this time beer was often served in jugs and collected by the customers. For many years it was known as Barton House when it was the home of Mr George Hopking the local builder. Since that time it has also been a grocers shop, carpet shop, hairdressers and now [1987] an estate agents.
The Anchor stood behind the Market Place and has a road named after it near where it stood. In 1772 Samuel Rolfe died here at the age of 436. In 1868 the licence was transferred from George Batt, who was also a carpenter and builder, to Charles Seward. Percy Seward Pook was here in 1871 and he was also a land measurer. Charles Povey had it in 1879 and was still here in 1890 but nine years later Daniel Lawrence was the publican. He also made coke baskets which were used by shoppers.
The Falcon right nest to the Church was described by the County History as among the oldest pubs in Hampshire. This site probably housed the guests of the Canons of Rouen when they came on official business. It was an important Inn when the stage coaches passed through Kingsclere on their way from London to Winchester. The Golden Falcon was recorded in the Parish registers in 1628, nut over a century before in 1510 William Warham, who became Archbishop of Canterbury, gave it to Winchester College upon trust for maintenance and support of scholars upon its foundation. Sarah Wigley died here in 1757, Jame Collin in the early 1770's, William Herbert who was a bricklayer was here in 1855 and Charles Holdway was here from 1875 till 1890. Ernest Rolfe was the last landlord before the Falcon closed in 1950.
Landlord of the Star have been in the last half of the 18th century, John Rumbold - 1855 till 1867, James Wither - 1890, Henry Fisher - 1892 staying until his retirement in 1912 when he had Eastbourne Villa built in the Marsh. The Star used to have 40 acres of farmland with it built this was sold by Lord Bolton in 1923. Jonas Holyoak was publican before Bill Plaice took over during the 1930's when he served the beer direct form the cellars. He retired in 1948 and it was probably soon after this that the farm was sold separately from the Pub. Mr St Alphonse and Mr Peter Howered were here before Bass Brewers Ltd bought it.
There has been an Inn on the site of the George and Horn for hundreds of years. It was the site of the crown Inn which dates back to 1611 and retained that name on the site in 1725. The oak beams came from sailing ships and the newest part of the building has wooden pegs which were shaped by hand. There used to be quoits played here on an area the size of a cricket pitch. John Seward was here in 1855, Edward Seward in 1867, Thomas Gosling in 1871, William Gardener in 1890, John Lindsay in 1899 and Arthur North in 1920.
I have read that the Crown Hotel was built in 1853 although someone in the village who knows a lot about the dates of houses, believes it to be older than that. It is definitely later than 1725 as the Crown stood at the top of George Street at that time. It is built in three sections, the part nearest George Street is where the pupils from the Girls School came for their cookery lessons. The green in front of the Hotel was covered in houses in the 18th century.
In 1855 Thomas Webber was at the Crown, Eldred Edward in 1871, Thomas Honour in 1899, Fred Daucey in 1903 and Gilbert Harrison in 1920.
The land on which The Swan Hotel stands was purchased by Winchester College in 1485. It was formerly owned by Thomas Bladon from whom the college purchased it and he inherited it from his father who had the same name. In August 1533 Henry Alyn leased the Swan for 50 shillings per year. From the middle of the 16th century for the next 300 years it was leased from Winchester College during which time the names changed quite frequently. Some of the tenants have been John Pocock in 1770, John Sherwell in 1871, David Brown in 1890. In recent years it has been owned by Courage Brewery and when they sold it last year [1986] Mrs Lake was the last tenant.
Experts looked at it during extensive renovations in 1986. The irregular assemblage of buildings is evidently an amalgamation of several adjoining properties. Parts are 18th and 19th century. It was when the present owner [1987] Mr Geoff Buckle and a friend removed plaster boarding that the superb interior of a former large 15th century house was discovered. The magnificent medieval hall with huge oak and elm support beams with butterfly wing braces were discovered. It is reputed to be one of the oldest inns in Britain. The Hall was a stoutly framed construction of obvious quality. It is likely that originally it was the residence of and affluent tradesman or yeoman farmer. Other parish records show the Thomas Bladon had cows and sheep when he died in 1459. In the hall roof are oversized oak timbers mortised and tenoned and held in place by wooden pegs. A market was held here in 1725 and it was a Posting House in 1830. About 1937 the stables were burnt down which were situated at the back of the building.
After being closed for nearly a year, the Hotel opened in April 1987 with two bedrooms named with local interest, King John's room and Watership Down. The restaurant opened in May 1987.

THE OLD BREWERY
William Drake of Hurstbourne Priors had two sons, William an architect who lived in Beenham Court, now Cheam School, and John who was a brewer. The tithe map of 1841 shows William Drake senior as having a malt house, brewery and hop garden. The malt house has now been converted into a private dwelling. The house was built or rebuilt in 1742, and later a part of the house was altered in the lifetime of William Drake Jnr.
Before the time of William Drake all malt for the brewery was made in Kingsclere. In 1793 one of the principle trades was malting. Barley was placed in a tank below mill level and water was allowed into the tank. After a thorough soaking the barley was spread out on the floor and turned frequently as it started into growth. As the barley turned it worked the full length of the malt house and was then shovelled to a higher level and worked again the full length and finally into an area with perforated steel plates as a floor over a furnace when the final process of malting took place. The malt was then placed in a vat where it was sprayed with water at a rather critical temperature, thereby extracting the sugars etc. and providing a malt liquor which was then boiled with the hops. Mr Drake (in 1974) remembered his father William Jnr. Seeing to the hops himself having hops from Hampshire, Kent and Herefordshire which he mixed by weight. After boiling, the hops were strained and the liquid placed into mash tuns and the yeast added. After preliminary fermentation the beer was passed into "puncheons" where it remained until fermentation was complete.
For 25-30 years Dr Douglas Philip and Dr John Almond held their surgeries in the Old Brewery House, this ceased in 1974.
In 1980 permission was given to start brewing real ale and it was hoped to brew 700 gallons weekly in four brews. However this never came to pass and in April 1987 the House was sold once more.