Edward Rackham - Miller

Edward Rackham, the miller of Deben Mill in the Suffolk village of Wickham Market, near Woodbridge explains the workings of his beautiful watermill, recounting stories of his working life at the mill he inherited from his father. At least one mill has stood on the site since around 1170, and since 1895, Reuben Rackham, Edward’s father operated two successful mills at this point on the river Deben – the watermill and a steam driven mill, both grinding flour.

Edward Rackham carried on producing stone-ground wholemeal flour in the water powered mill long after the later steam powered roller mill had ceased operation, but following his death in 1970 flour milling production finally ceased. The family business continued to expand and diversify with production of animal feeds for farms and smallholdings. With the decline of the small local farms and closure of livestock markets, animal feed production was replaced in 1990 by retail sales of domestic animal and pet foods, as well as logs and other solid fuel, bottled gas, water-softener salt and compost. The Rackham family business continues to thrive at Deben Mill.