Part
of a stained glass window in the Becket Chapel of
Thaxted Parish Church, Essex, depicts an undershot
watermill with its wooden waterwheel and wheelshaft
resting in its bearing. The Becket Chapel was one
of the last great building projects at the east end
of the church and dates to late 15th century (about
1480) to early 16th century (about 1510). However
the stained glass is earlier and was put into the
Becket Chapel windows at a later date and may well
have come from almost anywhere in the church,
perhaps from earlier windows some of which were
destroyed in the reformation and possibly in 1697
when the steeple fell down (due to a gale) and
damaged the nave and north entrance.
The
depicted watermill has a strong ecclesiastical
appearance, with its tiled roof and what appears to
be church style windows. Open fields surround the
mill and what may be wheat can be seen growing in
the foreground.
This
portion of the stained glass window may well
represent the medieval watermill that existed at
Tilty Abbey which is just some 4 miles away. There
was a very strong connection with the monks of Tilty
Abbey during the early phases of the building of
Thaxted Church. It is said that the monks conducted
services there sometimes three times a day. It is
possible that the route the monks took from Tilty
Abbey to Thaxted Church was through the small hamlet
of Monk Street, which is about halfway in distance
between the two buildings.
Note,
there is a derelict Victorian watermill in what were
the Abbey grounds, this mill is thought to stand on
the site of the medieval mill.
With
thanks to Prof Colin Harrison, Ken Baker, and Maggie
Catterall for their help. My image above is
reproduced with the permission of Thaxted Parish
Church.
