The winning entry in the second biennial Mills Archive Research Competition is now available.
The 54 page A4 book,written by Edwin Trout, covers the use of Traditional Milling Technology in the English Cement Industry, 1796-1899.
The early technology of cement milling is a neglected aspect of the history of the cement industry, accounts of which usually focus on the development of the kiln as the heart of this industrial process.
This work highlights an unexpected and even picturesque – if only occasional – use of the traditional wind- and water-mill in a production process usually characterised as heavy, fuel-intensive industry.
It establishes close parallels with flour milling, both in purpose and in process and reflects an underlying trend from traditional to roller milling and the adoption of steam power, tracing the industry’s mechanisation and electrification. It concludes with the replacement of traditional millstones by modern ball mills and tube mills in the 1890s.
This publication is the third in the Mills Archive Research Publication series and is available free on request to Friends of the Mills Archive and my also be ordered from the Mills Archive shop
