Fladbury is located on the River
Avon, Worcestershire, England. It sits between Evesham and Pershore.
The river has a large weir at this point with a water mill located at each end. Fladbury Mill is on the same side of the river as Fladbury Village. On the other side of the river adjacent to a lock is Cropthorne Mill. Cropthorne Mill was originally built to serve the village of Cropthorne about a mile downstream.
Fladbury Mill is a less prominent building on the river compared to Cropthorne Mill. For this reason many pictures and publications have wrongly identified Cropthorne Mill as Fladbury Mill.
Fladbury Mill still has much of its workings intact while the workings of Cropthorne Mill have long since been removed. Both of the Mills are in private ownership as are the ferry's which cross the river to Cropthorne mill and the lock.
For those wishing to see the lock adjacent to Cropthorne Mill there is a car park adjacent to Jubilee Bridge. This leads to a public footpath to the lock. Jubilee bridge is about 400yds downstream of Fladbury.
Each year Fladbury usually holds a 'Walkabout' normally around the May or August bank holiday weekend. In previous years the attractions were:
Cropthorne Mill has been in the Barrow family and its descendants for over 100 years. The pages which follow are a historical record compiled by Shirley Bridges from works by Louis Barrow.
The book was originally published for private circulation in 1949. Many visitors and friends have wished to have a copy of this book but the numbers are very limited. It is hoped that this will in part redress the balance. It is presented here as far as is possible in its original form, unedited except for adjustments to the layout necessary for web publications.
At the time of the book's publication
the river was un-navigable and the locks were in a state of decay.Through
the work of the Lower Avon Navigation Trust (LANT) the Avon is now once
again a thriving waterway and is navigable from Stratford-upon-Avon to
Tewkesbury where it joins the River Severn.
