The Chesapeake Mill
Wickham's most famous building and its naval story
The Chesapeake Mill on Bridge Street is the most distinctive building in Wickham and one of the most unusual structures in Hampshire. Built in 1820, the watermill incorporates timbers salvaged from the captured American frigate USS Chesapeake, making it a unique piece of Anglo-American naval history.
The USS Chesapeake was a 38-gun frigate of the United States Navy, best known for the engagement with HMS Shannon on 1 June 1813, off the coast of Boston during the War of 1812. The battle lasted only eleven minutes but was one of the bloodiest frigate actions of the age of sail. HMS Shannon, commanded by Captain Philip Broke, captured the Chesapeake and brought her to Halifax, Nova Scotia, as a prize. The ship was subsequently brought to Portsmouth, where the Royal Navy used her for a time before she was broken up.
The timbers from the Chesapeake were sold at auction, and the purchaser used them to construct a watermill on the River Meon at Wickham. The heavy oak timbers of the warship proved well suited to the structural demands of a mill building, and many of the original timbers are still visible in the structure today. The mill was built as a working corn mill, grinding grain from the surrounding farms, and it continued in this function for many decades.
The mill building is distinctive: a white-painted structure beside the river, with the visible timber framework speaking of its naval origins. The mill wheel was powered by the flow of the Meon, and the millrace and sluice are still evident in the landscape.
Today, the Chesapeake Mill operates as a restaurant and events venue. The conversion has preserved much of the building's character, and diners eat among the timbers that once formed the hull of an American warship. The mill is Grade II listed, and the building's significance is recognised both locally and by heritage organisations.
The story of the Chesapeake Mill connects Wickham to the wider history of the Napoleonic Wars, the War of 1812, and the Royal Navy's dominance of the seas in the early nineteenth century.