In 1820 Thurne Mill was built by local millwrights England & Co. of Ludham. Its job in life was to drain the marshes for the farmers to make good use of this valuable land. The mill would originally have been as tall as the black band shown in this photograph and would have driven a scoop wheel with cloth covered sails known as common sails.

In 1885 the mill was raised or ‘hained’ as it is called in Norfolk. This haining was required in order to fit the new style patent sails which had much more power and could be operated by standing on the ground and pulling on the chain in order to open or close the shutters. The fantail was put on at this time too and this enabled the mill to turn automatically into the wind.

In 1936 the mill ceased working due to the mechanism called the striking rod breaking in half. The striking rod ran through the entire mill and was responsible for opening and closing the sails.

By 1948 the mill was in a poor way, no interior floors, windows or doors, but thankfully all the machinery stayed intact. After the war lots of mills fell foul to demolition as the ironwork and rubble was far more valuable than the unused building.

In 1949, thankfully, Mr Ronald Dorian Morse (Bob) brought it from the Internal Drainage Board.

By 1950 Bob and Albert Smith transformed the mill to its former glory and this year his legacy lives on as a 200-year-old historical building that is still working………A lucky mill indeed.