In our regular column on monuments around Newham, Julia Omari discovers a tragic story of heroism at the Three Mills Distillery

Three Mills is a peaceful space that’s perfect for a Sunday stroll or bike ride. As you pass by the historic mills, modern art trail and River Lea you may also notice a sculptor of clasped hands by artist Alec Peever. The artwork is in memory of a tragic incident that took place on 12 July 1901 resulting in the loss of four lives.

The area is one of the oldest surviving industrial centers in England and is referenced in a survey taken for the Domesday Book in 1086. Over the years the land changed both in ownership and looks and once included the Stratford Langthorne Abbey, sometimes called West Ham Abbey. The Abbey had acquired three of the original mills and it’s from these three mills that the location took its name.

In 1872 J&W Nicholson & Co of Clerkenwell bought the Three Mills Distillery to produce Lamplighter Gin and grain alcohol. Always in need of water, managing director Godfrey Nicholson, 29, and three co-workers went to check on the water level of a nearby sealed well.

Thomas Pickett, 26, descended into the well to confirm water levels but as he climbed back up the ladder he fell into the water. Company director Godfrey Nicholson, not thinking of his own safety, went straight down after Pickett, but he too fell into the water. Fellow workers George Elliott, 35, and Robert Underhill, 24, to help but they also fell down into the water. A fifth worker Job Vanning climbed down into the well but with a rope around his waist. His body went limp, ready to fall into the water like the four before him but he was thankfully pulled to safety. Job was later reported as saying that he had smelt nothing but felt suddenly sleepy and had no memory of being pulled up to safety.

It was found that during the ten years that the well had been sealed rotten plants had released carbon dioxide into the water. The carbon dioxide was released into the air when the water was initially disturbed by Thomas Pickett, with more toxic fumes being released every time the water was disturbed, resulting in each man becoming overwhelmed by the rising fumes. After the removal of all bodies by the fire brigade, the well was resealed permanently.

Shortly after, a cruciform memorial was placed over the site. A new workers memorial titled Helping Hands by Alec Peever was erected in 2001 in memory of the four men and to commemorate other lives lost. Part of the stone plinth from the previous memorial was incorporated into the new work with all pieces being relocated to the current site in 2011, some 50 meters east of the well. Today the site of the well is covered by a stone disc upon which each man’s initials are inscribed.

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