Clatterford is a small village bordering Carisbrooke on the Isle of Wight. It is located in the civil parish of Newport and Carisbrooke, and the ward of Carisbrooke and Gunville. It was the site of the Island's only paper mill, which ran in the 18th century.
Name The name means 'the ford with loose stones or pebbles, loose-stone ford', from Old English clater and ford. The ford was across Lukely Brook, a tributary of the River Medina. ~1150: Claterford ~1200: Clatreford 1289: Claterford 1331: Clateruorde 1708: Clatterford
History Big foundations of Roman masonry have been found there, with traces of a Roman road.
There is a Roman villa in the village.
There are 9 listed buildings in Clatterford.
Paper mill The Isle of Wight's only paper mill was established in Clatterford in 1710, probably by Isaac Tipps, a papermaker from Carisbrooke. It was in an area known as Rack Close, near to Froglands Farm. The earliest reference to the mill is in The Deliniator of the Isle of Wight, by James Clarke, 1829:On 22 April 1711, Isaac Tipps was recorded as Palantine, an 18th century term for a German immigrant, and married to Christian Rutter.
There are no traces of the mill. A survey found that there were structural remains in the stream, but were of a later date of the mill. There is also evidence of a fulling mill on the site of the mill in the early 17th century. In 1618 it was described as "decayed". The last record was in 1708.
The water source for washing the paper was required to be "pure" (no leaves, weed or particles of sand and silt). Three springs were used.
The quantity would have been around 1 to 2 tons per year.
In 1832, the Hampshire Telegraph reported a cottage burning down on the grounds of the mill:
Geography Lukely Brook, which rises in the Bowcombe Valley, flows through the Plaish/Carisbrooke Meadows, through the village. The brook historically powered many mills and crosses a few roads in Clatterford and Carisbrooke via fords. The Bullhead fish, locally called "Millers Thumb" can be found in the brook, as well as Sticklebacks, Eels, Trout, and other fish native to the Island.
Notable people
Captain Charles Wilfred Brannon, served from Aug 1914 to Jul 1919 in the IW Rifles in Gallipoli, Egypt, and Palestine, where he was awarded the Military Cross, address was listed as Clatterford at the 1911 census. Presumably employed by the Isle of Wight County Press. Son of George Alfred Brannon, the County Press managing director. Commemorated on the Isle of Wight County Press Jubilee Booklet, published 1935.
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References