A mill stood here. For centuries it ground grain. Its stones turned by the Cherwell’s current. This is King’s Mill. Its history stretches back to at least 1086. The Domesday Book mentions it. Two mills and five fisheries were recorded then in Headington. King’s Mill was one of them.
King’s Mill wasn’t always a house. A later mill was built by St John’s Hospital. The mill operated until 1825. By the 1850s it had become a cottage. An auction advertisement from 1857 described it. It was advertised as “the Building known as KING’S MILL”. It was described as a cottage with a garden. It comprised about one acre.
Anthony Wood a seventeenth-century writer had a theory. He called the Cherwell branch King’slaw River. He speculated that both the river and King’s Mill were named after King Ethelred. King Ethelred lived sometimes at Headington. This theory is interesting isn’t it?
The current mill house dates from the late eighteenth century. The area surrounding King’s Mill became more accessible in the 1860s. The University of Oxford purchased land. They created a new walk. This walk led from the Parks to King’s Mill. It was opened to the public during the daytime. It was a new promenade. People enjoyed the additional walk greatly.
King’s Mill House and its lane were extra-parochial until 1886. Then they were included in the parish of Marston. The sluice gates near King’s Mill are important. They control water levels in the Cherwell. They are currently being repaired. The Mesopotamia Walk nearby will be closed during the repairs. This walk connects to King’s Mill Lane. King’s Mill a historic landmark. Its story is intertwined with Oxford’s history. It’s a piece of Oxford’s rich past. Its a hidden gem waiting to be explored.