Chesapeake Mill

This corn mill was constructed in 1820 and was in use until the 1970s.
Inside the five main spine beams to each floor, the floor joists, the roof timbers and most of the window lintels are of American longleaf pine, known to have originated in the American warship USS Chesapeake, captured by HMS Shannon 1st June 1813. After being captured, she served with the Royal Navy from 1814 to 1819, when the ship was taken to Portsmouth and dismantled. The capture of The Chesapeake was a famous naval action for the Royal Navy and was famous in the United States for the dying words of Captain James Lawrence: "Don't give up the ship".
In 1996 a timber fragment from the Chesapeake Mill was returned to the United States; it is on display at the Hampton Roads Naval Museum in Norfolk, Virginia.

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Source

• Text: Fedor de Vries
• Photos: Humphrey Bolton