This shows just a very small section of the Miller's Trail map, depicting Bardwell and it's mill..

"THE MILLER'S TRAIL"

You may know Suffolk like the back of your hand or this could be a first visit. Either way, we hope that the Miller's Trail will show you some memorable sights in the beautiful countryside near Bury St Edmunds. There are many ways to follow the Miller's Trail. Use it to explore the area - and once you've tried the main car route, then use it many more times as a starting point for new walks, rides and sightseeing. Brown tourist signs have been erected to guide you from one attraction to the next.

By the late 13th Century windmills were commonplace. Their heyday was the early 19th Century when almost 500 windmills were at work in Suffolk. Numbers declined, slowly at first but rapidly after 1900, in the face of competition from large steam-powered flour mills. Today, just 37 are left, and of these only half retain their machinery.

"BARDWELL"

Bardwell is a charming and old-established village with many timbered houses on the east bank of the river Black Bourn. Its most famous son, Sir William de Berdwell (1367-1434) was known as the Great Warrior. He is said to have built the tower of the present church, as well as the superb painted hammerbeam roof in its nave. Given his supposed friendship with John Fastolf and Henry V, Sir William could have been the inspiration for Shakespeare's Bardolph. Visit the village in May and enjoy the annual fair on the green. Find out more by following "A Step Back in Time", the village walk.

Bardwell Windmill dates from the 1820's, when it was said to have been build with parts of a mill brought from the neighbouring Ixworth. It was worked by wind power until 1925 and then by oil engine until 1941. Although restored to full working order in the 1980's, its sails were torn off in the storms of 1987. The community has helped to raise £70,000 to restore the sails. Milling is carried out with the help of Oliver the steam engine. Stoneground flour is available, and speciality breads are baked and sold at certain events.

This walk is to give visitors to our village some information about the listed buildings scattered around, one of which is the Six Bells Inn.

The Inn, situated off the Green and up a track,  is an interesting 16th/17th Century timberframed, roughcast with a slate roof building. It has an interesting internal chimney-stack - with built-in ovens in the bar area, and a Suffolk Range, bread oven and old "copper" in the dining room. In former times, the track on which it stands used to continue to Scole, and the "Six Bells" was a coaching inn and travellers' resting point. Furthermore, not far away the Peddars Way would have crossed the same track, en route from Ixworth High Street to Stanton Chare and Knettishall. This former Roman road from Chelmsford to the Wash is a route that would have been used by pedlars, merchants, travellers......and, also pilgrims. Perhaps it is no coincidence, therefor, that the "Six Bells" is so-named, and probably after the number of bells in Bardwell Church. Certainly, it's physical proximity to the meeting point of the track to Scole and the Peddars Way would explain why the Inn is actually situated away from the village and up a track. Furthermore, perhaps the present building was built on the site of an even earlier one.

In more recent years, the "Six Bells" and Bardwell village has been used in certain episodes of the popular tv series "Dads Army".

There are, of course, many other interesting buildings in the village, so keep your eyes open. But please remember also that the majority of the properties on the route are private and not at all open to the public.

At the top of the picture (no.12) the "Six Bells" Inn - Grade II listed.