The Broomhead Mill Inn
near Wigtwizzle
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The Broomhead Mill Inn, near Wigtwizzle. Click on a photo to enlarge it and for more information.
An overlay of an old Ordnance Survey map with a modern map showing the location of Broomhead Reservoir. Modern map reproduced with permission from OpenStreetMaps
There is no known photograph of the Broomhead Mill Inn. This old OS map shows its location, a little way from the corn mill itself. The site of the inn still exists although the actual building has been demolished, but the site of the mill now lies under the waters of Broomhead Reservoir. Reproduced by permission of the National Library of Scotland
The Broomhead Corn Mill, which was a separate building to the mill house and the inn. This appears to be the rear view. A mill has stood on this spot since the 13th century, and the one in Ewden was known as New Mill in about 1275. It isn’t known when this one was built. Its location is now under Broomhead reservoir. Work started on Broomhead and More Hall Reservoirs in 1913 but they weren't officially opened until 1929 because of delays caused by WWI. Picture Sheffield reference: s34473
Postcard by M&S pre-1914, possibly c1908. Comparing this photograph to the previous one, this appears to have been taken from the other side – note the taller building, and the shorter one (with the same roof). This is a new house which was built at the mill in 1860. The Broomhead Mill Inn was demolished at some point.
Another view of the house in the previous photograph
Broomhead Bridge, now submerged under Broomhead Dam
The Broomhead Mill Inn was a small wayside public house near the hamlet of Wigtwizzle, about a mile from Bolsterstone. It was a lonely building, standing in a deep valley on the edge of Broomhead Moors, and there was no other habitation within half a mile. A man was killed there in 1855, and the newspapers reported that the pub was remote and isolated, its interior accommodation very sparse, and that, over the years, the bleak weather that came in off the moors had almost obliterated the sign which denoted its name. It opened in about 1833 and closed in 1856 when its licence was rescinded.
Unfortunately, there is no known photograph of the Broomhead Mill Inn. The 1855 Ordnance Survey Map shows the location of the Mill House and pub, with a footpath running from the pub to the mill itself. The corn mill is now submerged by Broomhead Reservoir and the mill house has been demolished. There is a new road which runs alongside the reservoir, and the mill house stood where there is now a junction at Mill Lane and New Road.
The miller Ellis Jackson was the landlord