Memories of Felsted

Mill House Felsted

Does anyone remember Jack and Barbara Mahon who lived at Mill House, and had a small pig farm for a very short time, c 1934 to 1936?

Felsted, my village

I was born & bred in Felsted, living in the area until 1965 when I emigrated to New Zealand. These photographs of Felsted Mill remind me of the many hours spent on the wall below the water wheel race, fishing for roach and chub, and walking our girlfriends down by the river. The Felsted school with church in background, reminds me of Sunday school with the Reverend Vick together with the schoolmaster Dewey Jones. I also played cricket for the village on the public school grounds. Felsted Rovers football team played behind the Memorial Hall. I still meet some of the lads when making a trip back "Home" who played in the years 1954 onwards. We never miss visiting the village & retracing our earlier years with the vivid memories these visits bring back.

Felstead Mill 1891

In the 1891 and 1901 one of my ancestors, George Mott, was a miller at Felstead Mill. He had 3 daughters and 1 son.  His wife Althea died in 1898.  Perhaps she played the piano, and is the ghost!! George later married Naomi Boreham, who had been a cook at the mill.

Living at the Mill

My father bought the mill in the 1960s and we moved in 1976 to South Africa. During the years living at the mill we all have plenty of memories spent living there. The most memorable was the first time we encounted the ghost of the mill. My mother called my two brothers and sister and myself into the hallway and demanded to know who had been playing the grand piano in the main lounge. We were not allowed in there so she was not impressed that we had broken the rules. We all looked at each other in amazement. Suddenly we heard the piano music again. Mother armed with a brass poker stick in hand went with all of us into the main lounge, to our surprise no one was in there. It was a bit creepy at first but after a while we all got used to hearing the music. It was a woman who used to play on the grand piano and it was beautiful soothing music that came from the room.

There was a story about German prisoners that had done work on the mill and if you look on the second floor doorway overlooking the pond you will find the signtures of these men carved into the door frame.

There are so many stories of my life living in Felsted. It was the best childhood anyone could give their children. I left so many friends behind when we moved to South Africa. Of course all those friends thought I was moving to the wild Africa where lions lived in your back yard and elephants chased you down the fields!! Sadly I lost contact with all my friends after a while and don't know what happened to them all. But boy! the adventures we all had playing in those fields beside the mill.

Ghosts at the mill

I lived in the mill from 1978 to 1982 with my parents, brother and sister. I was only five when I left but I have memories of seeing a lady and man both dressed in very old fashioned clothes around the mill pond. and nobody ever saw them except me. I'm sure they were looking after me and making sure I didn't fall in the water.

It was a very creepy house and I remember our dog Polly would go mad in the hall at night. When we left the mill my mum went back one day and saw some builders inside doing the house up, my mum asked to look around but they told her to hurry as they don't stay in the dark, my mum asked why and they said because they heard children screaming and a huge bang as if someone had fallen down the stairs in the hall... They went outside thinking some children might be in the drive but there was nobody around. I'm thinking my dog knew something happened in the hall.

I'm really curious to know what happened there so if anyone has any memories of living there - please write your memories.

The Old School House

In the early 60's the Old School House was used as the school art room. The sign on the right of the photograph belongs to a cafe known to pupils as "The Hags". When we had pocket money it was a treat to go to the Hags for hot buttered toast.

The Mill at Felsted

I went to school at Felsted from 1960 to 1963. We had to do physical exercise every afternoon and because I was no good at sports I usually had to go for a run. This mill was a favourite destination. It took about 15 minutes to run here from the school. We would lean on the fence on the right of the photograph for a few minutes before going back.