The Mills Charity along with many other properties in the town of Framlingham, Suffolk have been affected by flooding due to Storm Babet.
Staff and trustees of the The Mills Charity were quick to help clean up as soon as the flooding receded.
The Charity has four short term properties all of which have extensive flooding. Unfortunately, one of these properties affected by the devastating floods was Tomb House and the Tomb of Thomas Mills, the Charityā€™s founder.
Fortunately, the flooding did not affect any of our residents in any of their almshouses, although an evacuation procedure was in place as water levels continued to rise.
In the late 1600s Thomas Mills lived and worked in Framlingham. He was a trained wheelwright, a timber merchant and he was a dissenting Baptist. He was a wealthy man inheriting a timber importing business in Wapping from his wife. Thomas also owned land in Dallinghoo, Dennington, Parham, Ufford, Pettistree, Wickham Market and Framlingham.
When in Framlingham he and his wife would stay in Tomb House. In secret, Thomas would meet fellow Nonconformists at Lincolnā€™s Barn, which has conveniently discrete and away from prying eyes. Thomas Mills died in 1703 and being a dissenter he was not offered an Anglican burial in the churchyard; he was buried in a tomb in his garden. His trusted servant William Mayhew is also buried in this tomb. Thomas left his fortune for good causes in Framlingham and other locations where he had had business interests. His will ordered the building of almshouses for the elderly poor which still stand.
taken from Mills Charity website – The Mills Charity
posted 25 October 2023