History – Mill Lane

Mill Lane was so named simply because it was the road leading to the mill.

Built on the riverbank close to the present dam by John Anderson Brown, the mill was greatly enlarged by subsequent owners to accommodate a kiln for drying oats and by the 1870’s was producing both flour and oatmeal.

The commodious building was used to house the indoor exhibits for early Agricultural Shows. The animals were held in nearby paddocks.

Henry Palmer, the hands-on miller, lived in the Mill House.

In spite of its use from early times Mill Lane was not declared a legal road until 1936 and Warkworth Town Board members were reluctant to use public money on metal to fill the potholes when the road was not always open. The neglected thoroughfare received an update in a co-operative effort involving the Board and the U.S. Army units stationed here during the war. Footpaths were laid to improve access to the Patriotic Hut run by the American Red Cross.

The Soldiers Monument was moved from Mill Lane to Church Hill in the 1930s.

In living memory the incandescent glow of the blacksmith’s forge drew children to watch fascinated as a horseshoe was hammered into shape, the red-hot metal sizzling as it was cooled in a barrel of water, and all the while the patient horse stood waiting.

On their adjacent greens, men have played bowls since 1923 and, in times past, ladies played croquet in their calf-length white dresses. Commercial interests have taken over a street where residences once stood, including the fine art deco home of the late T. W. Collins.