CLARK & BUTCHER MILL

Lion Mills, Soham, Cambridgeshire, CB7 5HT

 The Early Years

There has been a mill on the Lode at Soham since at least the 1600’s. The mill that Alfred Clark had his eye on was built in 1811 to take advantage of Soham Lode, a canal, which provided both water-power and an easy economical means of transport. Flour travelled by barge to Ely where, in due course, the Railway came to make a direct link with the London market. By the 1850’s there were seven pairs of millstones. Four powered by water and three by steam with coal brought in from the railway yards by returning barges. A modern mill house had been built on the site with its’ own gardens and orchards.

The vacating tenant had not run the mill successfully, and by the early 1860’s its’ trade had dwindled away. The tenant was forced to give up the business and accept the financial losses. The owner, Mr Dobede (Do bid ee), who was Lord of the Manor of Soham at that time, put the mill up to let requesting annual rent of £150. After much discussion with Mr Clark, Mr Dobede granted him a 7 year lease at an annual rent of £90.

On Christmas Day 1864, at the age of twenty-seven, Alfred Clark took up his tenancy of the mill. For the first year, he had just one apprentice and one man (employee), John Bradshaw Carter, who spent the rest of his working life with the firm.

 The Founding of Clark and Butcher

Alfred Clark had married Sarah Bovington in 1862 but she had died suddenly in 1873. By 1876 he had become engaged to Adelaide Butcher who he married in 1876. brother, Henry A Butcher, who wanted a change from the Drapery Trade he worked in. Alfred his brother-in-law should take on the running of a mill at Stetchworth, and they could run the two mills as a single business. It was a massive career change for Henry, but he agreed to it and the firm of Clark and Butcher was founded. In December 1876, at Ely, the mill at Soham, which Alfred Clark had been leasing from Mr Dobede came up for auction. The new firm of Clark and Butcher were able to purchase the freehold of the entire 2 acre property, including the granary, mill house, farm yards and orchards, at a knock down price of £520.

On 1st September 1879, the railway from Ely to Newmarket was opened, the new station at Soham and adjacent goods yard were sited close to the mill. This was a great advantage to Clark and Butcher.

In 1885 the technical process of roller-milling was introduced. Mr Henry Simon of Manchester designed the plant at Soham to the individual specification of Clark and Butcher. It was able to produce six to eight sacks of flour per hour, and was the first complete roller mill in Cambridgeshire.

 The Granary

The old Granary, known as ‘The Flint’, had originally been a maltings and had floors on several levels. To effect new production methods, the building was gutted inside and wheat silos were installed with a capacity of twelve bins. Clark and Butcher decided to undertake the work themselves. The structural steel came from the firm Redpath Brown, who were so short of work that they reduced the price of their steel dramatically in order to supply the order. The steel work was delivered to Soham Station ready to erect at a cost of £4 7s 6d per ton. The foundations were made from sand and cement. The sand came from Fordham, and the cement from Cambridge, which Clark and Butcher transported in their own lorries. There can have been few permanent industrial buildings built with such economy either before or since.

During the early 1990’s, production at the granary was wound down, with Clark and Butcher transferring all their manufacturing process on to more modern plant at the Lion Mills site. The buildings were used for storage for several years before being sold for conversion to housing in 1999.

 Lighting

The mill had been lit by oil lamps, which were never a good industrial lighting method and particularly bad in flour mills with their high fire risk, but gas light would have been no improvement. Electric generators did not reach a stage when they might have powered industrial indoor lighting until the late 1870’s. and the first incandescent filament bulbs that were in anyway practical were installed by their inventor, Joseph Swan, in a millionaire’s lavish new country house in 1880.
The had many imperfections at this stage, but they seemed destined to live up to their promise to give cleaner, brighter, more convenient lighting than any alternative at the time.

Alfred Clark observed another advantage - that they would burn safely in a flammable atmosphere. That was the lighting he wanted for Soham Mill. As early as 1883, he consulted a local firm of electricians, Simpson’s of Newmarket. They cannot have had much experience with direct current installations, if any, and the lighting of Soham Mills was a big job with many problems. Nevertheless, the task was undertaken. One special problem arose because the dynamo was driven from a waterwheel. The power output would be reduced when the water level was low. This was eventually overcome by fitting an adjuster, which enabled the voltage to be maintained at 110. The lighting was so satisfactory that it remained in use until 1933.

 Steam Wagons 1929-1935

The Foden steam wagons Clark and Butcher used were ‘overtypes’, which had a locomotive type boiler situated lengthways in front of the driver, and a traction engine type motion work mounted on top. Amongst other things, it gave the driver a poor view of where he was going. It was a fast engine, given that the speed limit was only twenty miles per hour, but it had a small payload.

Observing the success of a rival engine, Clark and Butcher decided to stop using the Foden and change to the proven Sentinal. Sentinel steam wagons were ‘undertypes With a compact vertical boiler and the engine and mechanical gear under slung in the chassis. This enabled a lager payload. Sentinel introduced two-speeders in 1927, which were much more efficient and successful than their single speed wagons. Clark and Butcher purchased their first ‘Sentinel Steam Waggon’, a ‘DG6’, in September 1929. ‘DG’ signified ‘double gear’, the ‘6’ referred to the number of wheels. The Sentinel Steam Company decided to put an extra ‘G’ in their ‘Waggon’. The Clark and Butcher ‘DG6’ carried loads of 15-16 tons of flour to London, and brought back 15-16 tons of wheat from the docks, taking roughly 16 hours for the round trip.

In 1932, Sentinel supplied standard vehicles with pneumatic tyres, the ‘DG4’. Previous models had been fitted with massive cast steel wheels shod in solid rubber. The ‘DG4’ purchased by Clark and Butcher was the first all pneumatic-tyred wagon and trailer in the district. A small fleet of DG4’s regularly made the trip from Soham Mill to London and back carrying eight tons on the wagon and seven on the trailer. The ‘DG4’ could complete a round trip in 14 hours. On its’ outward journey, the engine, starting from Soham with a full tank of water, would take more water on at Great Chesterford and again at Woodford. On the return journey, water was taken on at Buntingford. The engines did the whole journey on approximately seven and a half hundredweight of coal at a cost of 1s 9d per hw. The coal was purchased from a small colliery in South Wales called Wyndber at 35s per ton.

This system was so economical that it continued in use until long after the introduction of petrol and diesel vehicles, lasting until 1945 before it was replaced with a fleet of Bedford lorries.

 The Swimming Pool

There was at one time a swimming pool located beside Clark and Butcher's mill. The changing rooms as can be seen on the photograph below left were in an old railway carriage. Swimming sports galas were held there and there was a strong swimming club. Soham Swimming Club was particularly flourishing between the wars. In 1930 membership for adults cost 4/6 a year with under eighteens paying 2/6. There were strict rules for the club and all members had to provide their own 'university' costume while the club provided a free badge with the letters S.S.C. in white on a blue background. Mr Aspland kept the pool clean and was a rigorous custodian of the separate sessions for use of the pool by each of the sexes. Just before a gala, the pool would be filled up, but as the day went on, the water would gradually drain out into the river. The pool was in use before 1914 and eventually closed down in the early 1930's.

 The Mill Tramway

There was always a link between Clark and Butcher and Henry Simons of Manchester. Alfred Clark junior went to work for Simons. In 1893, Alfred junior represented Clark and Butcher at the World Fair in Chicago. What he saw there must have impressed him because, on his return, he had a tramway built at the mill to link it directly to the railway line. Horses drew the trucks along it, and there was a difficult curve to negotiate, but it greatly improved the means of transporting freight to and from the mill.

In 1931, the tramway tracks were relayed in standard gauge. The practice of using actual horse power to haul the trucks to the line died out with the introduction of the diesel engine. Clark and Butcher bought an International 10/20 tractor, took the steel shod wheels off and fitted rubber tyres with crosswise treads, as on a traction engine. The new machine was used for shunting, and had enough power to push three loaded trucks along the tramway at a time.

 The War Years

War was declared on 3rd September 1939. On the 5th of September, Clark and Butcher received a telegram from the Ministry of Food telling them that all their stock now belonged to the government, under whose instruction they would remain until the end of the war. The instructions were to come in the form of circulars called ‘Controlled Millers Confidential Circulars’. An agreement was drawn up between the trade and the government that payment would be based on the average profit for the previous three years, regardless of the amount of flour produced.

When the blitz began and many flour mills were burned out, the mills that remained working formed a pool and worked together to help one another. From 1940 onwards, there were large stocks of Manitoba wheat hidden around the countryside as an emergency measure against the possible effects of a Submarine blockade and further raids on the London docks. Large stocks of wheat in bags were stored in the Newmarket stables, and in various places around the district where suitable farm buildings were made available. By 1943 the situation had eased, but there was some anxiety about the quality of the grain that had been secretly stored for those many months. The government decided that the millers should start using it, blending it in with the standard flour, and replacing what they took with fresh supplies.

Victory day came at last. An urgent telegram arrived at Clark and Butcher. As the nearest millers to Witchford Airfield, they were requested to supply forty tons of flour, which was to be flown out and dropped over Holland where the people were starving.

 Big Blaze at Soham

It is ironic that, having operated throughout the war, Soham Mill would face destruction only weeks after VE day. At 2.00am on 12th July 1945 part of the mill was found to be alight. In a very short time the fire took hold and the mill became a raging inferno. Although employees were working in the building at the time, they were some distance from the seat of the fire. Directors, as well as staff were quickly on the scene, and many workmen were involved in the hazardous rescue of the fleet of ‘road transport vehicles’ from a covered yard adjacent to the burning buildings. The following extracts from the news report narrates the rescue.

The NFS (National Fire Service) was reinforced by pumps and crews from Cambridge and Newmarket. Ten pumps were in attendance and at the height of the fire seven were in operation at one time.

Pending the arrival of reinforcements, Mr Roger Clark started up the firm’s own trailer pump, and with the assistance of workmen quickly had a good pressure of water. They concentrated on the offices and flour store and by their prompt action saved this part of the premises and Mr J Clark’s house from the fire. Mr Jack Clark was also on the scene directing operations.

With the main building going away like a blast furnace the NFS .... Had a big job in hand, but by 4.00am the fire was surrounded and the situation was in hand. An hour later it was well under control and there was no danger of further spread.
The whole of the firm’s fleet of road transport vehicles housed in a covered yard between the mill and the flour store, were in danger of being involved in the fire, but they were driven to safety by the workmen, many of whom turned out & render valuable assistance. Among the vehicles was a trailer loaded with sacks of flour, and this was removed by Mr Roger Clark, Junior, by means of a tractor.

The loss of the mill and its machinery is a serious one, for the firm, since the beginning of the war, had been working at full pressure in the national interest under the ministry of food.

On viewing the ruins the following day, Jack Clark recalls that Mr Roger Clark said to him, ‘Out of evil may come good.’ They started planning for the rebuilding of the mill immediately. The foundations of the new mill were laid at Easter 1946 with bricks from Whittlesey, which Clark and Butcher hauled themselves. The new mill had the distinction of being the first to be built in Britain after the war, opening for business in July 1947 only two years after the old mill was destroyed.

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 The End of an Era

Clark & Butcher Mill ran successfully as a flour mill for 116 years, supplying flour to McVities over several years for their biscuit range. The company made an investment of £2.5million during the early 1990's so that it could move solely into manufacturing animal feed for the pig, poultry, horse and game markets which they have been doing so for the past 15 years. It moved into profit in the late 1990's, however, over the last five years, it had sustained substantial losses totalling over £2 million and it was this financial loss which forced them to consider the mill's closure. The decision to close also came in the wake of BSE mad cow disease and later, foot-and-mouth disease, which also took its toll on the company, leading to a "critical sales decline".

The directors and management of Clark and Butcher conducted an extensive strategic review of the viability of the business. The review concluded that, notwithstanding the commitment of the shareholders, board and workforce, Clark and Butcher's prospects for making a significant improvement in profitability through organic growth in the short and medium term were limited and that the continuation of the business as a loss-making concern was not sustainable. In March 2005 the Mill finally closed with a loss of 43 jobs.

Clark & Butcher will continue to operate its property interests, which include the building in Lion Mills, and a number of residential properties in the Soham area, which are predominantly terraced housing. In the wake of the closure announcement, an offer to supply the mill's current customers with a range of livestock products was made by W&H Marriage & Sons.

Since the closure, the historical mill could now be torn down to make way for a housing development if the owners receive enough support from local residents. The company recently asked the public for comments on proposals to build up to 140 homes on the riverside site before it decides whether to sell the imposing buildings to a developer. A public exhibition of the mill's history and outline plans for the proposed housing development were shown at Soham Town Council's offices back in June 2005.

Plans are likely to include a combination of affordable housing, family homes, flats and town houses but GVA Grimley, property consultants for Clark & Butcher, said they would not compile a planning brief for discussions with East Cambridgeshire District Council until residents had had their say on the outline proposals.

The site does contains a number of ugly buildings, albeit historical ones, but none of them are listed so most would be demolished if the housing development went ahead. The site is a hidden community asset and one of the benefits of the re-development of the site would be the opening up of riverside walks along Soham Lode from the centre of the town. If there is enough local support, the site is highly likely to be sold swiftly to a developer who would then submit a detailed planning application to the District Council.

The developers would also need to show there is a case for losing what is currently designated as an employment site, that they have satisfied local opinion and provided a full brief outlining the environmental impact of the site, the flood risk and the provision of open spaces.