Regarding Joel's observations about NH Mills,

At the risk of starting a new cross pond war it is worth keeping in mind that if a mill was established prior to the Amercian war of independence then its operation would have been subject to English common law. That being the case there would have been no need to incorporate aspects of "rights" into the title deeds since these rights would have been accepted as being defacto common practice being well established under English case law.

I would therefore suggest that pre revolution mill owners might well have more rights over the source of their feedstock water i.e. the river than they currently believe.

I do have a mill book listing these various case law studies with most of them emmanating from the 11th and 12th centuries.

It might be worth a try if you have a sharp lawyer in your preservation group.


Regards

Ken Hume