The Domesday Book of 1086, the great land survey ordered by William the Conqueror, records that three water mills existed in Bourne at that time out of an estimated 5,000 mills in the whole country.  

They were owned by Oger the Breton, a Norman knight who had come to this country from France with the invading army and was rewarded with holdings dispossessed from the English, making him undoubtedly the biggest landowner in the history of Bourne.  

The mills produced an income of thirty shillings a year but he also had two parts of the profits from another mill that brought in a further five shillings a year. Other landowners in Bourne are also recorded as having "parts of mills", a system we would refer to today as shares, but it is not known how many there were. These values seem insignificant by today's monetary standards but in those days they provided a most important income for the Lords of the Manor.  

Baldock's Mill is one of the three water mills mentioned in the Domesday Book that survived into the 20th century, the others being Cliffe’s Mill in West Street (demolished circa 1910) and Notley’s Mill in Eastgate (demolished 1973), and still stands today at No 21 South Street.  

The present stone building was erected on the banks of the Bourne Eau in 1800 and operated under various owners, the most notable being Robert James Shilcock (1823-1908) who also owned the Star Brewery in Manning Road which supplied beer to many local public houses including the Nag’s Head which was run by his brother John Baxter Shilcock.  

Thomas Pick was employed as his manager from 1876 until 1885 and he was succeeded by William Hudson who continued in the job until 1890. Subsequent millers were William Townson from 1896-1900 and John Pocklington who continued until Frederick Baldock took over in 1905, working as both miller and carpenter. It was a tradition in past times that mills were named after the miller, in this case Frederick Baldock (1863-1938), whose family were the last tenants, being associated with it for more than sixty years and so the name survives to this day. 

The mill was used to grind corn and animal feed brought in by farmers and smallholders who paid the going rate, power for grinding and lifting the sacks of grain between floors being provided by the wooden undershot water wheel turned by the fast flowing water in the mill race which could be adjusted during times of high levels along the Bourne Eau.  

The mill stopped working in 1924 when the water wheel collapsed. The owner, the Marquess of Exeter, called in experts to inspect the damage but decided not to repair it because of the high costs involved and the wheel and machinery were removed although Frederick Baldock continued in business as a carpenter, specialising in crates for packaging, gates and fences, from a workshop nearby. 

His son, Jack, took over and after he died in 1960, aged 66, the family continued living there but finally moved out in 1968. By this time, ownership had passed to Bourne United Charities but the building stood vacant for a time before becoming the headquarters of the town’s voluntary laundry, a community scheme to help the old and infirm do their weekly washing.  

This project occupied the ground floor which was painted and equipped with a clothes drying machine, and continued for several years with young people helping out over the school holidays. There were other uses at this time, for domestic science classes by pupils from Bourne Grammar School and for a short spell as temporary offices for the town council soon after its formation before moving into the Town Hall in 1976. 

The mill was listed Grade II as being of architectural and historical importance in 1973 and in 1981 the Civic Society, which had been formed only four years before, sought permission from Bourne United Charities to turn it into a Heritage Centre and was granted a 21-year lease for a peppercorn rent in order that it would be preserved for community use.  

This involved many years of hard work and administrative effort to survey and refurbish the building and to secure the necessary funds, the task being undertaken entirely by volunteers, but determination triumphed and the centre opened in 1989. The lease was renewed in 2002 and the full potential of the building in this new role is slowly being realised.  

The Heritage Centre now houses various collections, notably a memorial room opened in 1999 and devoted to the life and times of the international racing driver and designer Raymond Mays (1899-1980) whose work was centred on Bourne, a gallery opened in 2006 illustrating the career of Charles Worth (1825-95) and containing contains documents and copies of the actual dresses created by the father of haute couture at his famous salon in Paris, together with many other displays and artefacts devoted to the town's history including the railway age and the aerated water industry, both of which brought prosperity to the town during the 19th century. 

The water wheel which stopped working almost a century ago has been restored in recent years by Jim Jones, a retired engineer and custodian of the mill, after devoting some 500 hours of voluntary work to its design and construction and it now provides green electricity to reduce the heating bills for the building.  

Both the success of this project and the Heritage Centre itself have been acknowledged by a number of environmental awards and so the old mill by the stream still fulfils a useful community role today, albeit a very different one from that in times past.