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Wheels of fortune
The rise, fall and re-birth of
traditional mills
The ready availability of electricity and oil-fired
engines makes it easy to forget that, until barely more
than a hundred years ago, mills provided our main source
of mechanical power. Watermills and windmills were used
to power textile machines, saw timber, drain land, work
metal and to grind everything from
snuff to stones, as well as for milling cereals.
At their peak in the mid-nineteenth century, England
is thought to have had around 10,000 windmills and over
20,000 watermills, some with complex iron machinery
and up to five pairs of millstones. Boosted by the industrial
revolution, the importance of traditional mills was
challenged but far from defeated by the advent of steam
power; indeed many mills combined it with water power
to increase their capacity. The entry of another rival,
however, proved catastrophic.
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Out-gunned by large milling
factories using electricity generated from cheap fossil
fuels, the great majority of small rural mills closed
over the first few decades of the 20th century. Most wooden
windmills, having no alternative use, were left to rot
or broken up for salvage. Tower windmills fared better,
being built largely of stone and often having useful ancillary
buildings. Most watermills, meanwhile, being purpose built
for their particular environment and location, survived,
and many have been converted to make excellent homes.
This is a source of some dismay to mill enthusiasts, including
the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings, who
believe that the architectural and cultural importance
of our traditional mills is such that, as far as possible,
they should be preserved and restored to their original
working condition. SPAB is only too aware, though, that
conversion is often the only realistic alternative to
decay.
Accepting this, it has been highly influential in persuading
all those involved that many of the working parts of mills
can and should be retained and restored as part of the
conversion process. Consequently, a high proportion of
more recently converted watermills still have both a waterwheel
and its associated housing. Thus, having survived a 20th
century powered by cheap, climate-changing fossil fuels,
it is now quite conceivable that some mills may once again
be used to harness water power, this time to
generate electricity for their owners and, perhaps, to
feed the National Grid that once played such a crucial
role in their demise.
SPAB has an autonomous Mills Section which campaigns
for the protection of mills and their sympathetic repair.
It also supports the Mills Archive (www.millsarchive.com)
and advises mill owners. SPAB 020 7377 1644 www.spab.org.uk
Top: Suffolk, £1.5 million guide
Left Above: Hampshire, £1.2 million guide
Left: Somerset, £650,000 guide |
