Mill lane gets its name from Goosnargh Mill that was on this stretch of road and provided jobs and corn for the area. This was the water-corn mill and would have been one of the first around Goosnargh. There would eventually be four corn mills operated by power in Goosnargh; Higher and Lower Brock Mill, Goosnargh Mill and Bullsnape Mill which then declined over the nineteenth century and onwards.
Similar mills across Lancashire have been documented from the 13th century especially for rural villages so it is highly likely the mill could have originated then. The newspaper shows the advertisement of a new tenant for ‘Goosnargh Mill’ in 1831 and new archival work shows first reference to Goosnargh Mill and dating the possible origin to the 1630s due to its reference in 1663 for being sold to a new owner after having been newly built.
The current ‘house’ dates from 1722 carved on the lintel but would have been there many generations before. In 1910 we have records of ‘Long Tom’ and the John Proctor family from 1900. The mill stopped using water power from 1926 when a flood demolished the road bridge, it was then powered by a turbine and electricity from 1937. The mill stayed in the Proctor family until the milling business ended in 1962 and was sold to Ribble Fields Ltd.
