Originally Published in Heritage Happenings, September 1989
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Near the water trough, Progreston Road divides, with part, still known as Progreston Road, continuing westward to join Centre Road on the outskirts of present-day Carlisle. The other branch called Green Spring Road, passes through the remaining part of the village and continues southwards to join the Eighth Concession Road.

Green Spring Road narrows and passes under the Canadian Pacific Railway Bridge. The imposing stone bridge, with its span over the Twelve Mile Creek and Green Spring Road, is one of the landmarks in the village. This stretch of the Canadian Pacific Line between Guelph Junction and Hamilton was built during 1906, and on July 1, 1912, the first passenger train passed through. There has never been a station in Progreston, the stop at Flamboro Station (just off the Carlisle, or Ninth Concession Road), less than half a mile away, serving the village and Carlisle. Four trains daily to Hamilton allowed farmers to take produce to market, and high school students to take the train to Waterdown. Howard Green used the train daily to attend Hamilton Business College for a year before joining his father as a salesman for the Progreston Woollen Mill.¹

Passing under the span of the bridge, the ruins of the last mill to operate in Progreston can be seen on the left, across the bank of the Twelve Mile Creek. These are the remains of Spencer Bennett’s Feed Mill, the operation finally closing in October 1964. It stood on foundations of at least three former mills dating from 1867, when Samuel Campbell constructed a sawmill on the site. This building was destroyed by fire during the late 1880s² and when rebuilt, converted to become a three-storey combined flour and grist mill. The building continued in operation until it was again destroyed by fire in 1939. At that time, the owner, Spencer Bennett³ decided that on rebuilding, the mill would be operated as a Feed Mill. In 1940, powered by a water-driven turbine, Spencer Bennett reopened the mill, processing grain into flour and bran. During the late 1940s, Ross Tansley worked for Mr. Bennett, and later with his son, Herbert S. Bennett, helping to mix the various feeds, and then with deliveries of pig feed to the local farmers.⁴

A few years prior to the operation finally closing, Miss Mabel Burkholder, noted Hamilton writer of local history, published an article about Progreston in her weekly series, “Out of the Storied Past”,

The mill on the Twelve is two miles from Carlisle and is known as the ‘Food Service Mill’, operated by J. S. Bennett and Son. A flume of wood braced with iron stays directs the water into the mill race. An iron grille at the top keeps out sticks and stones. A contrivance at the side can be used as a sluice to raise the water level, but apparently is never used as the flow of water is remarkably constant”. ⁵

Rounding the bend in Green Spring Road, several attractive houses mark the outskirts of the village. On the left, Galway Farm, owned by the McGill Family, and just a little further on the same side, the Vos House, one of the oldest houses in the area, reputedly dating from 1857. The original settlers on the property lived in the building to the side, which eventually came to serve as a driveshed. The present stone house eventually replaced the original dwelling, and in 1879 became the home of Thomas Le Messurier⁶ and his wife Charity Gunby.

There appears to have been only one church in Progreston, and very little is known about it. Possibly a Methodist Church, it was known as the “Messiah Church”, the Rev. Daniel Campbell being recorded as the Minister in the 1867-1868 Directory Listing of Progreston.

This concludes the series of articles on the village of Progreston. During the past two years, photographs of the Progreston area have been donated to the Archives by Miss Elizabeth Beeforth and Mrs. Florence Tansley. Anyone having further information about this historic milling settlement, photographs of people and buildings that would add to the Society’s knowledge, is requested to contact the Archivist.

1. Reminiscences of Mrs. Winnifred Green, Vertical File Heritage Society Archives.
2. Mrs. Florence Tansley of Carlisle, recalls a story from her grandfather, Hall Gunby (1848-1939) who lived with Mrs. Tansley’s parents when she was young, about the fire that destroyed the mill. Mr. Gunby Senior was woken by the brilliant reflections of the fire in the windows of the house, got up and went down to investigate, while the rest of the family, who slept on the opposite side of the house were completely unaware. The next morning the windows of the house were all damaged by the heat of the fire.
3. Spencer Bennett, son of George Bennett and Jane Gastle was born in Progreston, 30 May 1867, one of six sons and four daughters. He learned the milling trade with his brother Thomas Bennett at the old Dakota Mill near Kilbride. In 1899, they moved into Hamilton and operated a mill for a time at the corner of Market and Park Streets. In 1914, he purchased the Progreston flour and grist mill and returned to East Flamborough.
4. Reminiscences of Mrs. Florence Tansley, Carlisle, March 1989.
5. Hamilton Spectator – 1 October 1960.
6. Thomas Le Messurier (1836-1923) was a “fine house carpenter”, responsible for the building of several outstanding stone houses in the area — Blagden House on the 7th Concession Road built in 1862, Newell House built in 1863 for $500.00 from stone quarried below the Waterdown Falls, and the Josling House on the 8th Concession Road in 1864.

© The Waterdown-East Flamborough Heritage Society 1989, 2021.