The water in this stream is the overflow from the spring on the south-east side of Stanford – until 2008 the village’s sole water supply.
To comply with the water requirements of the growing village, the spring water from ‘The Eye’ is now augmented by borehole water. The stream flows via the Milkwood Grove into the Klein River.
When Stanford was still a farm, the contours of the land split the stream in two. In the early 1800s, one of the owners (Samuel Parlby) built a water mill in Caledon St, and used the top stream to grind wheat, which he sold in Cape Town.
The Mill Stream (especially further upstream) is the breeding ground of the endangered Western Cape Leopard Toad. They love the marshy areas around the stream. Their mating calls are prolific during spring, and from December to January little toadlets can be found all along the stream.
