Occasional Magazine N.S. Vol.1 No.2 (August 1982)
New Light on Milford’s Salterns by K. F. Sawyer. Salt production by evaporating sea water was widespread locally and a major industry until the 19th century. The history, methods and economics of salterns have been well studied and the present substantial new research has demonstrated that those in Milford closed much earlier and more abruptly than Lymington’s. The new understanding comes from close examination of two sets of parish records, the Churchwardens’ Accounts (1713-1800) and those of the Poor Law overseers (1797-1835). Their income came from a rate assessed on the occupational use of property and salterns were included since they also could be bought, sold or rented. They were sought after as a profitable investment in spite of rates, tithes, Salt Tax and the vagaries of weather. The Accounts themselves present problems of interpretation and a few years are missing. The operators of each Milford saltern are now established plus the rateable value, but the locations remain imprecise. The history is here set out in narrative form and a “total worth” shown graphically from 1713. The peak of prosperity was reached in 1770, after which the salterns saw numerous closures till 1789. All concerned suffered heavy financial loss and the parish’s rate income fell by a fifth just as unemployment and poor relief became pressing. The disaster was caused by the sea repeatedly breaching the Hurst shingle spit, flooding and permanently wrecking the salterns. Some evidence from two contemporary maps suggests local defences were constructed around the surviving few salterns but the industry never recovered in Milford. With investors withdrawing and the doubling of Salt Tax in 1798, production had virtually ceased by 1828. There was a Salt Office in Milford in the 18th century, which for a time may have been in Rose Cottage in Barnes Lane. By 1840 almost all the old saltern lands had been reclaimed and turned over to grazing.
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