Three Mills Island: a hub of resilience, productivity and innovation since 1135 

Harris Science Academy East London sits on a network of waterways on the only listed street in the UK on top of the largest tidal wave mill in the world - the site has been a hub of resilience, productivity and innovation for almost a millennium. 

We see the first reference of our site in the Domesday Book; the entry from 1086 references “eight or possibly nine mill stones” in William the Conqueror’s survey of the land to account for the spoils of his new territory.  

The next records show Stratford Abbey who acquired the land on and around the island establishing a Cistercian monastery. The monks were granted part of the meadow, which we call the Green, and “the two mills by the causeway”. The monks established a hub of industry for the first time on the island using the ebb and flow of the tidal current, which runs underneath our main Clock Mill building, to grind grain. By the time Henry VIII dissolved Stratford Abbey in the 1538, the mills output was substantial. The flour the monks made was award winning, according to records at Smithfield Market, and was sold to make bread to feed the hungry workers from across the City of London.  

In 1727, highly skilled Protestant Huguenot weavers migrated from France to the island purchasing the mills and bringing further innovation to our corner of East London; new trades and ideas included glass blowing, sugar making, diamond cutting, textile weaving, were introduced to our site establishing the island as a hub of innovation and productivity.  

Production on the island shifted over the next centuries revealing the emerging desires of a prosperous city and an enterprising people. Gunpowder became the product of the island following the invention of the musket as the English Civil War approached. Grain for gin was ground and distilled during the 100 years war with France as French brandy was taxed. Whilst gin was considered cleaner than the ales served throughout taverns in London, the Gin Craze contributed to a “spindle-shanked generation” pinpointing the price heavy industrialisation and mass production had on the city of London. The mill remained producing gin, the quality of which was refined following the take over by J. W Nicholson. Over the next years, decay, disrepair and a fire in 1802 left the mill in disrepair before being rebuilt at the end of the century.  

The enduring spirit of the mill was tested again during WW2 as the island was targeted by enemy Nazi Blitz raids in 1940 due to its prominent position within the East London artillery network. Despite the destruction, the enduring spirit of the island remained. The mill was rebuilt allowing for the site’s rich history to serve and inspire the island’s next phase of innovation, productivity and resilience- our HSAEL school community.