Not many people outside of the area realise that there is a rather extraordinary historic building in Wickham that would not have been there if there had not been a rather bloody naval battle off the coast of the United States nearly 200 years ago. The Chesapeake Mill stands in the Meon Valley and is literally thousands of miles from Boston, Massachusetts where our story of this intriguing building originated from. An American frigate that was captured by the British is the mainstay of this building . It was after a battle that lasted for about 10 minutes that the ship was captured and taken to Portsmouth where it was broken up for scrap.

In June 1812 the United States Congress declared war on Britain which was the last time these two great powers became engaged in conflict with each other. The conflict was about naval and trade issues and this occurred at an awkward time for Britain, a time when she was desperately fighting the Napoleonic War in France.

It is said that sea actions of the American - British war were like gladiatorial contests where dashing captains were put in command of fast ships. The guide book at the mill goes on to say
“The captains were lionised by the public of both nations and fought each other with great courage and chivalry,”
“However, after 12 months at war the Royal Navy had still not gained a victory in a single-ship frigate action. There was growing concern about the war among both the Admiralty and the British public. A victory was desperately needed to redress the balance of American successes at sea.”

One of the masters who went to the North American station was Captain Sir Philip Bowes Vere Broke, who was in command of the 38 gun frigate HMS Shannon which had been built in Chatham in 1806. At about the same time Captain James Lawrence was in command of the USS Chesapeake, another frigate but with a superior fire power have 6 more guns than the Shannon, Chesapeake was built at Gosport Virginia in 1799, so a tie with Hampshire yet again!

The Shannon arrived off of Boston and came upon the Chesapeake who was getting ready to set sail, but the British crew were low on rations including water so Capt Broke despatched a rather unusual letter to his American counterpart. which said;

Portrait of Capt Sir Philip B Vere Broke, KCB of HMS Shannon		Portrait of Capt James Lawrence USS Chesapeake
“Sir, As the Chesapeake appears now ready for sea, I request that you will do me the favour to meet the Shannon with her, ship to ship, to try the fortunes of our respective flags..........I entreat you sir, not to imagine that I am urged by mere personal vanity to the wish of meeting the Chesapeake, or that I depend upon your personal ambition for your acceding to this invitation; we both have nobler motives..........Favour me with a speedy reply. We are short of provision and water, and cannot stay long here.”

But the message was never delivered until the Chesapeake left harbour and this resulted in the two ship coming together with all guns blazing. In about ten minutes the Chesapeake had been disabled and Lawrence fatally wounded but before he died he gave his last order which has gone down in American history. “Don’t give up the ship.”

But this was not to be as the British took the Chesapeake as a prize of war and when repairs had been made she was put into service by the Royal Navy until 1819 when she was then withdrawn and broken up.

Even though the battle only lasted a few minutes the casualties were higher than in any other single ship action in the history of both the Royal Navy and the American Navy. The total number of casualties on both sides were:

A John Prior, who was the miller at Wickham bought the timbers and had them incorporated into the building which was being constructed to replace an earlier mill that had stood on the same site. The deck beams measure 32ft in length and are 18inches square and have been used to support the mills floors, and there are marks of Shannon's grapeshot still visible in them. The date of Prior's building, 1820 can be seen in the front of the present mill which has now been converted to a shopping centre.

The port quarter of the Chesapeake became entangled with the Shannon's anchor and she is boarded by the Shannons (after J C Schesky)

Dummy in uniform, label says"Don't give up the ship"		An American sack hanging on the chute
The chute where the flour was loaded into bags		one of the timbers showing shrapnel and bloodstains
part of the old machinery		Inside the Mill today showing the timbers
More shrapnel marks		the Sluice gate mechanism

Even today if you look carefully at the flooring and the ceiling beams you will see shot and shrapnel as well as bloodstains. Also can be seen are places where repairs were made in the timbers of the ship, rebates can also be seen where the mast partners and carlings were placed.. Evidence is also visible of the wooden trenails and metal bolts that held the ship together. In other places in the mill, race marks can be found, these were worked into the timbers using a race knife. Some places initials of the crew can be seen.

For further information and letters exchanged visit
CHESAPEAKE MILL WEBSITE