In 1835 Thomas Poyzer, born at the close of the 18th century, was now in his 35th year. He was married to Sarah, with one son, Lindley, and a daughter, Agnes, on the way. Thomas was in need of somewhere to accommodate his growing family, so he bought a ‘cottage house', which later became Mill House, from Samuel Dyer, a farmer.

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Two years later, in 1837, Thomas’ family increased with the joyful addition of another boy whom they named Otho.

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Thomas continued to ply his trade as a carpenter but had aspirations for a change of direction, and so, to provide a better life for his wife and young family, he caused to be raised behind his ‘cottage house’ a windmill – this was some time prior to 1861.

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By 1861, Thomas was proud to boast the title of ‘Grocer and Master Miller’ and was employing his two sons at the mill. Lindley as a miller journeyman and Otho as a miller and baker. Otho, now aged 24, had extended the family business by setting himself up as a baker, having erected a set of ovens between the house and the mill.

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Around the same time that Otho was developing his skills as a baker in Stathern, over in Asfordby a certain Alfred Routen was already established as a master baker and grocer. His wife Ann was about to give birth to the first of their eight children in 1860; the child was a boy. He was named Alfred after his father and would grow up in the trade of his father to become a journeyman baker.

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Back in Stathern, as the years went by, Thomas Poyzer gradually passed more of the running of the mill to his youngest son Otho. Married to Sarah and starting a family, Otho moved out of his parents' home but remained resident in Stathern. However, after a few years it proved a better arrangement for Otho to live in what was by now called Mill House, while Thomas, now a widower, took another house in the village. Soon after, in 1882, Thomas made the break with the mill complete when he gifted the mill, bakery and house to Otho. Just a year later, in 1883, Thomas died at the age of 84.

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Otho, unfortunately, was not to live to the same ripe old age as his father and enjoy the fruits of a thriving mill and bakery business. Sadly, he died in 1886 aged 49.

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Meanwhile, in Asfordby, the younger Alfred W. Routen, now in his twenties, living in a crowded family home and soon to be married, was looking to his own future away from his father’s business. He was quick to seize on the opportunity when the mill and bakery at Stathern became available and moved to Stathern slightly before, or early in, 1888. However, within 3 years, whether through the added responsibility of the mill or just better opportunities arising, Alfred had moved to Barkestone, where he continued as a ‘baker and breadmaker’.

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It is not yet clear who next owned the mill or occupied Mill House.

 

Early maps of the village created in 1884 and 1888 clearly show a corn mill on the site to the rear of where Mill House still stands. By the time maps had been redrawn in 1904, the mill had been demolished, for reasons yet to be discovered, possibly due to a change from arable to dairy farming. The ovens remained until the 1980s, when, due to being in a dangerous condition, they too had to be demolished.

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To this day, if the summer is hot and dry enough, the footprint of the windmill can be clearly seen as a circle on the lawn in the garden to the rear of Mill House.