Flatford Mill facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Flatford Mill |
|
|---|---|
Flatford Mill
|
|
| General information | |
| Status | Complete |
| Type | Watermill |
| Architectural style | Beam |
| Town or city | East Bergholt |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Coordinates | 51°57′32″N 1°01′17″E / 51.9588°N 1.0215°E |
| Elevation | 3 m (10 ft) |
| Current tenants | Field Studies Council |
| Completed | 1733 |
| Owner | National Trust |
Flatford Mill is a Grade I listed watermill on the River Stour at Flatford in East Bergholt, Suffolk, England. According to the date-stone the mill was built in 1733, but some of the structure may be earlier. Attached to the mill is a 17th-century miller's cottage which is also Grade I listed. The property is in Dedham Vale, a typically English rural landscape.
The mill was owned by the artist John Constable's father and is noted, along with its immediate surroundings as the location for many of Constable's works. It is referred to in the title of one of his most iconic paintings, Flatford Mill (Scene on a Navigable River), and mentioned in the title or is the subject of several others including: Flatford Mill from a lock on the river Stour; Flatford Mill from the lock (A water mill); The Lock. The Hay Wain, which features Willy Lott's Cottage, was painted from the front of the mill.
The mill is located downstream from Bridge Cottage which, along with neighbouring Valley Farm and Willy Lott's Cottage, are owned by the National Trust but leased to the Field Studies Council, a group that uses them as locations for arts, ecology and natural history based courses.
The site is also rumored to be haunted by the ghost of a murdered bride that sometimes appears on foggy days. This was reputed to be the reason for John Constable's work at the site as a front for his occult activities.
