PREFACE
This feature article covers both the Olney Roller Mill and the Gudgin family, who owned and managed the mill and resided at the Mill House, from around 1894 until the mill was gutted by fire in 1965. The article is divided into two parts, the first and longer element deals with the Gudgin family’s fortunes during their time at the mill, the second presents some early twentieth century facts about the Roller Mill itself.
The primary source of the information for Part 1 was, we believe, Iain Forrest, a great-grandson of Albert Gudgin. We are more confident about the photographs we have included in the article, and the accompanying video, as they were very kindly provided by Iain Forrest in 2006. Incidentally the family believe that the origin of the name GUDGIN is French and is a variation of the name Goujon, from the gudgeon fish, the Old French gougon.
The information for Part 2 has been been extracted directly from Oliver Ratcliff’s ‘Olney, Bucks’ originally published in 1907, and usually referred to as his ‘1907 Almanack’. The ODHS reproduced this book in full in 2008 . It is available in PDF form on this website.
Why not start your exploration of Olney Mill and the Gudgin Family with the following video?
Direct link to: The Gudgin Family at Olney Mill
Direct link to: Olney Roller Mill in the early twentieth century
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BBC Archive ‘Interlude’ film (1953)
As a footnote to this feature on Olney Roller Mill, the ODHS would like to thank Andy Beer, a commenter to this website, who in October 2020 drew our attention to the following BBC interlude film of the Mill and the River Ouse in Olney from the BBC Archive.
The introduction to the film states that it portrays the sedate scenes of a church, mill and stream filmed near the River Ouse, in Olney, Buckinghamshire. The film was originally broadcast on 10th October 1953. Link to the BBC Archive Interlude Film 1953
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Copyright © 2010 Olney & District Historical Society