26/08/2022
All ready this afternoon for our very last ever guests at St Bede-we hope Sherree & her partner have a great stay.
St Bede, The Old Mill
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- St Bede, The Old Mill
A cosy 'hemmel' cottage in the beautiful Northumberland countryside. Sleeps two, can be rented separately or in conjunction with The Old Mill next door.
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St Bede, The Old Mill, Little Mill
Alnwick
NE663LL
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St Bede at The Old Mill-A history
The Old Mill is located in the small Northumbrian hamlet of Littlemill, four miles east of Alnwick. As the name suggests The Old Mill was once a water mill & the remains of the mill wheel can be seen at the rear of the property. If you look to the left while facing the building you will see a field which was once the site of a medieval village known as 'Little Houghton'. Corn mills were a common feature of such villages, so it is likely that a mill has stood at this location since as early as the fifth century. The name 'Little Houghton' was later reused & today there is a nearby village known by the same name. The earliest the mill buildings appear on a map is around 1820. The lime kiln (Grade 2 listed) on the opposite side of the road approaching the hamlet of Littlemill would have been a large local employer when in use. Extraction started in the 18th century & it was one of the largest in the country with it's own railway siding. The limestone was burnt with coal to produce quicklime for use in fertiliser & mortar. There was once a railway station at Littlemill (1847 to 1965), families from Gateshead & Newcastle enjoyed holidays in nearby Craster, alighting at Littlemill & walking, with their luggage, the two miles down the road to the picturesque coastal village. The Old Mill building was derelict until purchased from the local land owning Howick family in the late 1980's & was subsequently bought by an order of the Catholic church known as the 'Helpers of the Holy Souls' & run by nuns as a retreat. Local legend has it that Maxine Carr, accomplice to the Soham murders in 2002, resided here on her release from prison under a new identity.
The two smaller cottages (known as 'hemmels') attached to The Old Mill, called St Bede and St Cuthbert after the venerable monks who resided at nearby Lindisfarne on Holy Island, were once home to farm animals but were converted to residential spaces in 2001. The word 'hemmel' means a simple shelter in a field for cattle or hay. The current owner bought the house and cottages from Sister Mary Rose and the nuns in 2007 & in 2017 renovated the properties to make the accommodation more comfortable & environmentally friendly as well as securing the fabric of the buildings for future generations. The research into the history of The Old Mill continues & we have yet to break into the recently discovered hidden room behind the mill wheel !
