Many people who lived in Cippenham Green will remember the sight of an abandoned water-wheel lying in a field. Past the north side of the village green was a large field known as Greg’s farm. The Gregory family had certainly been farm owners in Cippenham for well over a century and almost certainly did own the field in some era. At the side of the field nearest Warner Close there was a large open-sided dilapidated iron barn around which there was an eclectic scattering of vehicles including a WW2 DUKW and odd pieces of junk. One of the items had the appearance of being a water wheel. It had been there at least from the late 60’s. It has been speculated – although no one seems to know for sure, that this was once the water wheel of the Haymill mill.
This is the possibly Hay Mill’s water-wheel
It could be seen that there were once blades/paddles all the way round the circumference but most of them have broken away by the time of this photograph. The houses in Warner Close can be seen through the spokes of the wheel. It is recorded that there was a manufacturer name cast on the wheel “W. R. DELL & SON. ENGINEERS. LONDON & CROYDON”. Recently, some limited information on Dell & Sons has came onto the internet. They company were indeed described as millwrights which strengthens the case that this was a mill-wheel and not part of some other type of equipment. It would seen likely therefore that this was Haymill’s water wheel. But how on earth did it end up in a Cippenham field?
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