From Quern to Computer; a history of flour milling by Martin and Sue Watts covers a wide range of topics and Chapter 15 is the final chapter, written in 2016, reflecting on a challenging future for traditional mills. Wimbledon Common Windmill was converted to six small cottages in the 1860s (Postcard from the Mills Archive Collection, DONP-10985) The corn milling industry…
From Quern to Computer; a history of flour milling by Martin and Sue Watts covers a wide range of topics and Chapter 14 is particularly interesting. The importance of bread in the early medieval period is highlighted by the Old English words for lord (hlaford) and lady (hloefdige), meaning loaf keeper and loaf kneader respectively. Payments and rents were…
From Quern to Computer; a history of flour milling by Martin and Sue Watts covers a wide range of topics and this summarises Chapter 13. The domestication of wild cereal plants in the eastern Mediterranean some 8,000-10,000 years ago led to, or indeed may even have been caused by, an increased consumption of cereal-based products which could…
From Quern to Computer; a history of flour milling by Martin and Sue Watts covers a wide range of topics and this summarises Chapter 12. Alford mill, Lincolnshire built in the 1830s(Photo P. Dolman, Mills Archive Collection, DOLM-07229) The most common method of stone milling used in Britain was and is low milling, whereby the grain is…
From Quern to Computer; a history of flour milling by Martin and Sue Watts covers a wide range of topics and this summarises Chapter 11. The article written in 2016 is helpful summary of the revolution in the UK during the preceding 100 years or so. Since then the pace of change has increased and much consolidation has been…
From Quern to Computer; a history of flour milling by Martin and Sue Watts covers a wide range of topics and this summarises Chapter 10.The principle of roller milling is the gradual reduction of grain by breaking it open and reducing the particle size between successive pairs of rolls. At every stage of the process some flour is…
By Ron and Mildred Cookson With Remembrance Sunday next weekend, this week’s newsletter is devoted to the varied roles played by mills during the two World Wars. As field hospitals for wounded soldiers, as look-out posts, as places to relax away from the battlefield and as a means of feeding a nation under siege, we…
From Quern to Computer; a history of flour milling by Martin and Sue Watts covers a wide range of topics and this summarises Chapter 9. For a much more detailed treatment read the article itself. The century between 1750 and 1850 was one of great social change as Britain moved inexorably towards industrialisation. The period was also marked by…
From Quern to Computer; a history of flour milling by Martin and Sue Watts covers a wide range of topics and this summarises Chapter 8. This period to the mid-18th century saw significant developments in the technology of corn milling, changes in land ownership and a rise in population as standards of living improved. The treble mill…
From Quern to Computer; a history of flour milling by Martin and Sue Watts covers a wide range of topics and this series of emails will summarise each one separately. It is clear that by the time of the Norman Conquest mills were regarded as important manorial assets. No manor was properly equipped unless it had…
