The exposed location was often a problem, and in 1792 large quantities of flour and wheat were destroyed when the site was hit by a violent storm.

He constructed a new three-storey mill building, to house 16 pairs of stones, with which he was able to produce 1,500 sacks (190 tonnes) of flour per week.

Barton was in partnership with Edmund Catt just prior to 1800, but the London Gazette in 1801 announced that the agreement was no longer in place.

William Catt was part of a family with many farming and milling interests in Robertsbridge and Buxted, and was a keen businessman.

[3] According to the census data from 1851, there were 60 men working at the mill, and most of them lived in cottages that Catt had built around the site.

The last residents were forcibly removed in 1939, the shingle beach being needed for defensive purposes during World War Two.

Apart from the dig, it will evolve into a large collection of film, video, recollections and photographs logging the decline of the area.

[11] Access is via either Mill Drove, an insignificant single-track road that runs south-west from the Newhaven and Seaford roads at approximately the point where one changes into the other grid reference TQ463005 (very limited parking, and access is via a pedestrian railway crossing at Bishopstone Beach Halt); or along the beach to the east of Newhaven Harbour.

A family from London revitalises the Mill's fortunes and the main storylines use local landmarks and contemporary values.

It is also featured in the poem "Tide Mills", written by Minoli Salgado for the 2021 Arts Council England-funded project Your Local Arena.