Publications
Thomas Durrant, Miller, of Merstham (Surrey) and Ifield (Sussex), by Paul W. Sowan, published 1981 in Sussex Industrial History (No. 11, article, pp.22-24) accessible at: The Keep [LIB/506525] Download PDF
Abstract:A Thomas Durrant appears to have purchased the watermill at Ifield for £1,800 in 1817. The mill was demolished and re-erected at about the same time, but it is not clear if the purchase price was for the mill as re-built, or if the re-construction was undertaken at additional expense after purchase. A Thomas Watkins Durrant is shown as master miller in the 1851 census for Ifield as having been born in Merstham. How Thomas Durrant found the considerable sum of money required for the purchase of Ifield Mill has been something of a puzzle. Litigation between one Thomas Durrant, miller, of Merstham and Messrs. Jolliffe and Banks, who operated an underground stone quarry in that parish, in 1810, reportedly led to Durrant being awarded damages of £2,200 as compensation for the accidental diversion of his water supply. However, although such a sum readily explains this or a related Durrant's ability to purchase the mill at Ifield, it is puzzling that so great a sum of money for damages is not mentioned by contemporary sources reporting the cause of the interruption of the water. Clearly, there is a case for closer enquiry into the circumstances.