Abram Constable Snr - Mill Owner 1742-1768
In 1742 Abram Constable (John’s father’s uncle) bought Flatford Mill from Matthew Isaac who had owned it from 1731. Two millers were already working there at that time, Henry Crush and Samuel Lamb. Abram and his wife Isabel had no children and when they died, they left Flatford Mill to their nephew Golding, John Constable’s father. Golding Constable inherited the mill with resident miller Henry Crush still in post.
Flatford Mill would originally have been built out of wood. Abram rebuilt and repaired the buildings so what we see today is largely the result of his work. An inscription at the back of the Flatford Mill bears Abram and Isabel’s initials ‘AIC 1733’ although due to erosion of the stone, it often looks like ‘1753’. As the mill was not owned by the Constable family until 1742 and Abram Constable did not finish the rebuilding until 1753 this plaque is to mark the completion of his building work.
Although the inside of Flatford Mill has since been modernised to provide student accommodation, much of the exterior is unchanged from Abram’s time.
Features of Flatford Mill
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- Flatford Mill
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- Rear of mill house
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- Brick water inlet arches
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- Lucam overhanging road
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- Millstone
Abram Constable Senior's Mill
During Abram’s time, Flatford Mill operated between two floors:
Floor One – the ground floor contained:
- Two pairs of millstones which were 4 feet in diameter. The millstones were held within strong timber frames on the ground floor. They were made up of separate pieces of stone (chalcedonic hornstone imported from France) held together by plaster of Paris with iron hoops running around their circumference.
Two ‘undershot’ wooden water wheels which were 12 feet in diameter and 3 feet wide. Each water wheel was housed inside the mill and set within a channel of running water (a culvert).
How the millstones turned
- Water was fed from the River Stour into culverts through two entrance arches
- The force of the running water drove the waterwheels round and this motion provided the power to activate the mechanical shafts and hoists which turned the millstones
- The ‘used’ river water was fed outside into the mill pond via two exit arches which can still be seen today
Floor Two – the upper floor contained
- A dry storage space for sacks of grain and processed flour
- A hopper and chute by which grain was gravity-fed from the upper floor to the mill stones on the ground floor
- A lucam overhanging the road between the mill and the millpond, from where grain carried by farm carts was hoisted to the upper floor via a trap door
- A second lucam opening on the opposite side of the mill overhanging the river from where flour was lowered into waiting barges (also called lighters)
Golding Constable - Mill Owner 1768-1815
Golding Constable inherited Flatford Mill from his uncle Abram (Senior) Constable. Although Golding Constable continued to operate the mill very much as in his Uncle Abram Constable’s time.
However, his business ambitions far exceeded those of his uncle. Golding Constable was an entrepreneur.He owned Flatford Mill and a windmill at East Bergholt and also ran two sea-going Thames barges (the Balloon and the Telegraph) running between Mistley Wharf and London carrying wheat, barley, malt, flour, bricks, chalk and lime. These barges were powered by sails and travelled round the coast to the London docks.
For more information about this portrait of John Constable’s father click on this link to the Tate Gallery John Constable’s father
Abram Constable Junior's Mill -1816-184
Abram Constable (Golding’s youngest son and John Constable’s brother) took over Flatford Mill when his father died in 1816.
In 1846, Abram sold Flatford Mill for 2,000 guineas to William Rufus Bentall and Stephen Durrant Lott. This marked the end of Constables’ ownership of Flatford Mill.
Links with John Constable
John Constable delayed his wedding in order to complete this picture. It shows the mill buildings virtually as they look today.
For more information about this painting, click
This sketch is the only one showing the water outlets from the mill into the millpond painted from the corner of Willy Lott’s House. The lucam is shown in its original position. For more information about this sketch click
- In addition to the above sketch, Constable painted a series of paint and pencil sketches called ‘Flatford Mill from the Lock’
- Versions of these sketches are owned by various people. For information an oil sketch by John Constable owned by the Victoria and Albert Museum in London please click Flatford Mill from the Lock