Find out more about the origins of roller mills in the articles below: History of Roller Milling: Farewell to the Millstone History of Roller Milling: The Origins
The Advent of Modern Milling
Author: Mills Archive
This is the "unknown author": use this for occasional guest blog posts etc. where we do not want to create a WordPress user. The first line of such posts can credit the real author like this: "Author: John Smith"
The frogs and the stork: Cartoons by John Doyle
Phoebe Goldsmith One of the most recent additions to our collections is the archive of UK Flour Millers (previously NABIM) and the Millers’ Mutual Association. Volunteer Phoebe Goldsmith has been doing some research into the significance of the three large engravings shown below: This collection of three satirical cartoons relates to the repeal of the…
Spanish Windmills
Rex Wailes Some time in the 1950s or 60s, Rex Wailes visited Spain and toured the mills of La Mancha, famous for their appearance in Don Quixote. He wrote this account of his findings. Mills of La Mancha Don Quixote, from the cover of the Northwestern Miller, Janyary 7, 1925 At the same time the…
Moroccan Mills 3 – The Mill in the Community
Michael Harverson Michael Harverson (1937-2017) was one of the founding trustees of the Mills Archives. A particular interest of his was the mills of the Middle East, and in his collection we have several accounts of his travels, illustrated with photographs. In 1985, Michael Harverson spent several months in the Atlas Mountains of Morocco, searching for watermills.…
Heage Windmill has problems
Alan Gifford (Founder Trustee) Early illustration of Heage windmill with four sails, Unknown artist, 2005(scan of original from c 1890), Mills Archive Collection, SMDN-19211 Heage Windmill, near to Belper in Derbyshire, was built in c 1795 and worked until 1919. It was partially restored to present a good visual image by its owners, Derbyshire County Council, in…
International Women’s Day –Marjorie Isabel Batten 1903-1962
Elizabeth Trout To celebrate International Women’s Day this week (8 March) this newsletter features an interesting woman who played an important role in the early history of mill preservation. This is reproduced from a blog by Elizabeth Trout, originally published on our website in 2020. Image of Marjorie Batten from The Sphere March 21, 1931 M. I.…
William Cornwell’s retirement certificate
Hannah Pomeroy This week’s gem is the beautiful calligraphic certificate shown below, given to William Cornwell on the occasion of his retirement from the Sun Flour Mills Company in 1926. The story of William Cornwell is reproduced here from a blog post by Hannah Pomeroy, originally published on our website in 2017. William Cornwell and…
Homestead Gristmill
Agnes C Meeker This is a gem of a find located at Homestead Heritage site just outside the town of Waco, Texas.The restored gristmill from the 1760s operates daily, grinding cornmeal and flour. Homestead is an agrarian and craft-based intentional community. Its literature stresses simplicity, sustainability, sufficiency, cooperation, service and quality craftmanship. The daily activities…
Moroccan Mills 2 – Technology
Michael Harverson Michael Harverson (1937-2017) was one of the founding trustees of the Mills Archives. A particular interest of his was the mills of the Middle East, and in his collection we have several accounts of his travels, illustrated with photographs. This newsletter contains another extract from Michael Harverson’s travelogue of his trip to Morocco in 1985…
The Newgate Prison Windmill
Stephen Buckland This is an abridged version of an unpublished typescript by Stephen Buckland (1935-2006) which is held in the Archive’s collections. You can read the full transcription here: https://catalogue.millsarchive.org/newgate-prison-mill-1752-unpublished. Newgate Prison The old Newgate Prison. From Wikimedia Commons https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Old_Newgate.jpg The ancient prison of Newgate, near the present Old Bailey, was built originally in the 12th century…