Harbottle : Mills And Quarry

The 1245, 1308 and 1398 inquests indicate two mills were held by the Umfravilles in the liberty of Redesdale. Neither of these is named, but one probably occupied the same location as 'the mill of Harbottle', which is listed by the 1604 Border Survey (1604 Survey, 106; see Selected Sources and Surveys) as part of the demesne of the Manor of Harbottle.

The miller is named as John Wainebye who 'holdeth one water corne mill standinge upon the water of the Cockatt' for which he paid an annual rent of £2.(op. cit.). Wainebye is also listed amongst the burgher freeholders, but, uniquely, is placed in 'The Peale' (i.e. Peels), rather than 'Harbotle Towne' like the other 15 burghers, and held one house and two acres of arable there (op. cit.).

This, combined with the survival of the remains of a water mill at the east end of Peels hamlet suggests that the Harbottle mill of the 1604 survey was actually located at Peels rather than Harbottle itself. This would in turn imply that the river formerly flowed closer to Peels than its present course does. The valley bottom is relatively wide and flat at this point and could therefore have lent itself to changes of course. Moreover an associated sunken channel or holloway which may represent a palaeochannel is still visible. However the Armstrong's map clearly indicates that the Coquet was flowing along its present channel by 1769.

The 1604 survey also mentions a quarry on Harbottle Crag, where Percival Pott claimed the customry right to quarry millstones on payment of the annual sum of £10 (op. cit., 105). Percival may himself have occupied a mill at Holystone (op. cit., 92). The quarry site can still be traced, with around 60 whole and broken roughouts remaining, plus sled tracks. Quarrying probably continued here up until the beginning of the 19th century.