The Historic Horns Dam
Over the centuries The Horns Dam was also known as Higher Dam, Horns Reservoir and Mill Pond because it fed Goosnargh’s (water-powered) Corn Mill by a weir which passed under the road to Mill Lane. Records indicate an earlier mill (now demolished) whose location was closer to the Dam.
Lancashire County Council Monument Report – lists Goosnargh Corn Mill as a (pre) ‘Medieval Monument’ first mentioned in 1273 when Alan Caterell leased the Mill to Sir Adam de Hocton (Houghton) of Houghton Towers Preston – for twenty seven years at the cost of £20.
Because, there are so few records before William the Conqueror commissioned the registration of all land and property, it is difficult to find anything prior to 1273, but, further transactions are listed on the report up to 1789. All the Horns Dam deeds since then are in the possession of the Fletcher family. So, until further evidence appears, the monument report confirms that The Horns Dam is at least seven hundred and forty seven years old.
However, corroborating evidence suggests it could be thousands of years old.
In the late 1890’s the Sluice Gate Valve (which was manufactured at Glenfield Iron Co Kilmarnock Scotland) was installed at Horns Dam and because this innovative design has much more cast iron below the water level than can be seen above it, one can imagine its arrival would attract much attention in those days.
Prior to the invention of hydro-electrical power, this type of gate was designed for the control of large volumes of water and in this particular case, a steady water supply to the corn mill.
Sadly, the valve is no longer in operation, but even today, so many years later, this fine antique structure still attracts much interest.
In 1901 John Proctor was living at Goosnargh Corn Mill with his wife Nancy and unmarried brother Timothy (Charles Fletcher’s grandfather). The Proctor family continued at the Mill for almost three generations until it was sold in 1974. However, the Mill stopped being powered by water in 1926 when a flood demolished the road bridge. It was then powered by gas or coal ‘turbine’ until the installation of electricity in 1937.
In 1953 the Council of the Urban District of Fulwood sold Horns Dam to Mr Jonathan Longton who developed it as a fishery. Following Mr Longton’s early death, Mrs Kathleen Longton continued to keep the fishery for private use and occasional weekend matches until 1999 when she sold it to the Fletchers who became the first proprietors to open it up for the enjoyment of the general public.
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