This notebook contains E. M. Gardner's handwritten transcripts of the inventories that were conducted on the mill properties of four millers of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. The inventories are very detailed and comprehensive. The inventories were reproduced by Gardner in this particular order of sequence. The first inventory is the register drawn up of the property of the seventeenth century miller John Haverson dated 11 Jan 1680; the second is that of John Rafess dated 1736; the third is that of William Ayling dated 1718 and the fourth is that of William Goble dated 1643.

The second notebook contains Gardner's handwritten extracts of information valuable to her from a variety of sources including Ordinance Survey Maps, academic journal articles and reports as well as newspaper articles. Gardner's compiled bibliographies which she created for the purposes of her research are also included.

The third notebook contains Gardner's notes of the key facts and figures that were deduced from the inventories of an array of watermills throughout the principality of Wales and the English Midland county of Shropshire.

The fourth notebook contains Gardner's notes on the information that she discovered herself concerning the mills situated within the county of Worcestershire and Salop through her own research as well as providing a comprehensive commentary on the research activities of the historical and archaeological associations of the county into the history of milling in Worcestershire.

The fifth notebook contains Gardner's handwritten notes on Tithe maps of Wales and Tide Mills in such places as Caenarvon, Beaumaris, Abergavenny and Gower in Wales. In addition, the notebook also records details of the wills of various millers preserved at the Prerogative Court of Canterbury. Much of Gardner's information was derived from articles in the academic journal of the Institute of Historical Research. .

The sixth notebook contains Gardner's handwritten notes on a diverse spectrum of subject matter ranging from the key facts discovered by John Leland about the watermills of Lichfield to lists of trades people who undertook construction work at various mills during the early twentieth century. .

The seventh notebook contains Gardner's handwritten notes on watermills in London , the county of Somerset and the county of Hampshire. .

The eighth notebook contains Gardner's handwritten notes covering a wide array of subjects from Gardner's copious notations on The Kenneth Clark Lecture on the rural agricultural economy to detailed information that she had collected on such subjects as the application of malt in the industrial processes of milling. However, there is a considerable body of material which does not concern mills at all which record Gardner's observations regarding her numerous visits and tours of castles, churches and abbeys in England and Wales. Nonetheless, this information is still of great value to the researcher as it informs us of the exceptional dedication of Gardner to her pursuit of the study of history.

The ninth notebook contains Gardner's notes on mills in the Welsh county of Monmouthshire.

The tenth notebook provides a detailed commentary on a number of the watermills situated within the counties of Gloucestershire and Bedfordshire.

The eleventh notebook contains Gardner's notes on the respective operative functions of the constituent parts of the machinery of water mills.

The twelfth notebook contains copious and detailed notes on watermills in the English counties of Devonshire, Dorset and Surrey as well as a number of mills in Wales.

The index cards of E. M. Gardner encompass watermills of all of the counties of England and Wales.

The first folder contains Index cards which concern the watermills of Wales. The Index cards are separated into two sections – one unlabelled and the other labelled Merioneth.

The second folder contains Index cards with E. M. Gardner's handwritten notes about watermills in Sussex (both East and West Sussex) and Hampshire. Gardner's Index cards are eparated into 3 sections.

This file contains handwritten index cards possessing information relating to a plethora of water mills from an extensive range of counties. The index cards are arranged alphabetically according to county. The counties and cities included are organised in this descending order: Berkshire; Buckinghamshire; Cambridgeshire ; Cheshire ; Cumberland ; Cornwall ; Derby ; Devon ; Dorset ; Durham ; Gloucestershire ; Hampshire ; Hereford ; Hertfordshire ; Huntingdonshire ; Kent ; Lancashire ; Leicester ; Lincoln ; London ; Middlesex ; Norfolk ; Northamptonshire ; Northumberland ; Nottinghamshire ; Oxford; Rutland ; Salop ; Somerset ; Stafford ; Suffolk ; Surrey ; Warwick ; Westmorland and Yorkshire. There is a section of index cards on mills in Scotland which follows directly on from the English counties and cities. The final two sections at the end are entitled Hammer Mills and Horse Mills. Incidentally, the section of index cards relating to watermills in Devon is sub - divided further into the subsections : River Axe and tributaries, River Exe and tributaries. River Otter and tributaries and River Teign and tributaries.

This file contains handwritten index cards which can be best described as a miscellaneous series of documents. There are several groups in one box relating to different topics.

The first section of index cards concerns general subject matter and is organised alphabetically. The second section of handwritten index cards are divided into the following subsections of place names: Cocking ; Cockingforge ; Birdham ; Bishopstone ; Fishbourne ; Nutbourne ; Pagham ; Sidlesham ; Shipley ; Chethurst ; Ipling ; Linch ; Trotton and Stedham.

The third group is a collection of index cards held together by elastic band entitled Merioneth. The fourth group of handwritten index cards and notes are arranged by alphabetical order following directly on from the Merioneth collection. The fifth group is a collection of alphabetised handwritten index cards on Sussex. This collection used to include 3 photographs.

The sixth category is a collection of handwritten notes and index cards on Heyshott. The seventh group consists of handwritten index cards which used to contain 5 illustrated postcards.

The seventh group is organised into the following subsections: Cornwall ; Cheshire ; Durham ; Essex; Hampshire; Kent; Oxford ; Norfolk ; Lincolnshire ; Salop ; Staffordshire ; Suffolk ; Surrey ; Warwick ; Yorkshire ; Wales ; Lewisham, Shetland Orkney and W. ham.

The eighth group is entitled “Calico Printers. Four Mills. R. Lee” comprising of handwritten notes on index cards arranged in alphabetical order while the ninth group is a collection of handwritten index cards entitled Shetland Orkney. In addition, there is also a book of handwritten notes starting with Barony Mill Birsay. There are two pages of folded up handwritten notes on Scotland Highlands islands, a note from Mr David Davidson addressed to Miss Gardner, a copy of article entitled “Orkney's changing agriculture” by Alexander Calder, a loose page of handwritten notes, handwritten note from W. Jacobson addressed to Miss Gardner as well as two handwritten postcards (not illustrated).