A very popular venue, the Old Mill Inn and Spa is an English-style Inn and restaurant. It was originally a saw mill built in 1793. In 1914, it was owned by R. Home Smith who opened it as "the Old Mill Tea Garden". Following that the Inn was used as a dance hall for during the Big Band era in the 20's. More recently in 1983 it was designated as a 'Heritage Property' by the City of Etobicoke (now Toronto). Currently it is owned by the Kalmar family. The Spa opened in 2001 with over 47 rooms and 13 suites. The property over looks 2.5 hecacres of parkland surrounding the Humber River making it a perfect spot for weddings, business conventions or a romantic getaway.
When you look at this gorgeous property both inside and out, its not too difficult to imagine that almost 300 years ago the area surrounding the Old Mill, was once used as a fishing and hunting area for the First Nations before the Europeans took settlement here. By about 1720, the French had made it their home calling a small piece of land the Magasin Royale, was was close to the present site of the Mill. They used this fort-like property to trade with different native bands.
50 years later, the English came and built homes, using the Mill to cut lumber. The first homes were built in York, Upper Canada which is now known as Toronto. There are so many beautiful piece of furniture inside, surrounded by lush gardens on the outside, patios, gifts shops and a chapel onsite.
see Etienne Brule Trail
see Humber River Trail
Darnley Cascade once powered the Grist Mill in the early 1800's. Today water flows over layered rocks and is measured as the highest above sea level of all the waterfalls in Hamilton at 223 metres, although its drop is a mere 4 metres making it the smallest of cascades in Hamilton.
You can see remnants of the old Grist dam and off into the horizon is the newer Christie dam. Darnley was a name given by the man who founded Crooks Hollows, James Crooks. He was a Scotsman whose hero was Lord Darnley.
In 1911, the Crooks sold the mill to the Stutts. (see Darnley ruins). Some to this day call it Stutts Falls.
I don't know if it was the gloomy gray skies, or the wind whistling through the trees around me, but I felt very melancholy to think that tragedy had occurred in a setting so beautiful.
In the early part of the 1800's, Crooks Hollows was at the centre of some progressive industrial growth in Upper Canada. Named after James Crooks, its founder, who saw that Spencer creek had a lot of potential in the town to build and grow upon.
During the war of 1812, James Crooks, who saw the soldiers in the area were having a very difficult time, had built the Darnley Grist Mill with the hopes of producing flour for bread. James Crooks saw the Spencer creek to not only power the mill, but to provide water for the crops as well as drinking water. He obviously was a visionary. Darnley Mill was the first of several businesses that had developed. Soon a distillery, blacksmith shop and a general store opened its doors.
Ten years later, the old grist mill was made into Upper Canada's first paper mill. But Crooks sold it off because of lack of power. This is when I find the story gets a little strange. The paper mill had passed through three hands (Helliwell, Ellen Bansley, Robert Sanderson) before it was eventually sold to Mr. Stutts in 1878. James Stutts and his sons ran the business for 7 years. Until one gloomy gray day such as this one, when the boiler had blown the roof off the boiler house as well as the roof of the main building killing one of Stutts sons' John.
Although
Darnley Mill continued to run for years after, it was once more brought
down for good after a fire which gutted the building in 1943, never to be rebuilt again.
Where I stand in and among the ruins taking pictures, you can sense the isolation and the bleak remains of this town. Although there are beautiful homes and quaint little stores at the hairpin of Old Brock road and Crooks Hollow Road, this town was forgotten about after the railroad had bypassed it altogether. Nowadays, you can visit the ruins of Darnley Grist Mill and see the remains of a man's dream one brick at a time.
Other links: Darnley Cascade, Crooks Hollow.
When you look at this gorgeous property both inside and out, its not too difficult to imagine that almost 300 years ago the area surrounding the Old Mill, was once used as a fishing and hunting area for the First Nations before the Europeans took settlement here. By about 1720, the French had made it their home calling a small piece of land the Magasin Royale, was was close to the present site of the Mill. They used this fort-like property to trade with different native bands.
