Blaydon Burn, Low Mill

In 1736 the antiquarian Bourne noted the following: "A pleasant walk… brings you to another mill, formerly used by Messrs Joseph Cowen & Co for grinding clay. The waterwheel is hidden by a picturesque little cottage… the wheel is silent". A deed of 1798 regarding water mills on the Blaydon Burn between Edward Towneley Standish and John Silvertop, allowed free use of the burn to either party for building mills and dams, and noted that Standish has lately erected a mill for grinding of calcined flints. In 1867 a lease from Towneley to Cowen includes a clay mill, formerly a flint mill. The Blaydonburn Wagonway (HER ref. 3424), ran through this site. It was not working in 1896 and there are no standing remains, but the site of the mill can be pinpointed in this relatively undisturbed section of the valley.