Watermill at Hele, Devon

P DX354 PH2/6/7

1 photograph: b&w

type: PRINT

English

Mills, Watermills- Great Britain, Watermills, Graphic Materials

<DIV STYLE="text-align:Justify;font-family:Georgia;font-style:normal;font-weight:normal;font-size:16;color:#000000;"><P><SPAN><SPAN>1. &lt;B&gt;Hele watermill, Devon, &lt;I&gt;c&lt;/I&gt;.1900&lt;/B&gt;&lt;P&gt;The first documented reference of a British watermill can be found in an English charter dated AD 762 which relates to a mill at a place called Cert, then found to the east of Dover in Kent. Just over 300 years later, the Domesday Book, compiled in 1086 on the orders of William I (the Conqueror), recorded the existence of several thousand working watermills in England. The village of Hele in Devon has had a watermill (pictured above) since at least the early part of the 16th century. Most watermills in England during the Middle Ages belonged to either manorial or monastic estates. To the mills came the farmers of the surrounding countryside, bringing their corn to be milled. Throughout the centuries that followed, millers prospered from increasing trade. During the second half of the 19th century, however, the traditional prosperity and working methods of rural millers were severely challenged by the introduction of steam powered roller mills, first seen in Britain in the 1860s. In this method of milling, the grain passed between two adjustable metal cylinders instead of millstones. At the same time Britain started to import large quantities of grain from North America and when these grain shipments arrived they were usually ground in roller mills housed in new mill buildings beside the docks. In addition, an improved transport system enabled the grain/flour to be conveyed quickly to wherever it was needed. These factors combined against the millers, few of whom chose to adapt by converting to roller mills. As a result, roller mills had largely replaced the traditional country watermills by the end of the nineteenth century.&lt;P&gt;There are three main types of waterwheel: overshot, breastshot and undershot. The above picture is an example of an overshot, where the wheel is operated by the weight of water falling into buckets attached around its outer edge.&lt;P&gt;P DX354 PH2/6/7</SPAN></SPAN></P></DIV><DIV STYLE="text-align:Justify;font-family:Georgia;font-style:normal;font-weight:normal;font-size:16;color:#000000;"><P><SPAN><SPAN>1. &lt;B&gt;Hele watermill, Devon, &lt;I&gt;c&lt;/I&gt;.1900&lt;/B&gt;&lt;P&gt;The first documented reference of a British watermill can be found in an English charter dated AD 762 which relates to a mill at a place called Cert, then found to the east of Dover in Kent. Just over 300 years later, the Domesday Book, compiled in 1086 on the orders of William I (the Conqueror), recorded the existence of several thousand working watermills in England. The village of Hele in Devon has had a watermill (pictured above) since at least the early part of the 16th century. Most watermills in England during the Middle Ages belonged to either manorial or monastic estates. To the mills came the farmers of the surrounding countryside, bringing their corn to be milled. Throughout the centuries that followed, millers prospered from increasing trade. During the second half of the 19th century, however, the traditional prosperity and working methods of rural millers were severely challenged by the introduction of steam powered roller mills, first seen in Britain in the 1860s. In this method of milling, the grain passed between two adjustable metal cylinders instead of millstones. At the same time Britain started to import large quantities of grain from North America and when these grain shipments arrived they were usually ground in roller mills housed in new mill buildings beside the docks. In addition, an improved transport system enabled the grain/flour to be conveyed quickly to wherever it was needed. These factors combined against the millers, few of whom chose to adapt by converting to roller mills. As a result, roller mills had largely replaced the traditional country watermills by the end of the nineteenth century.&lt;P&gt;There are three main types of waterwheel: overshot, breastshot and undershot. The above picture is an example of an overshot, where the wheel is operated by the weight of water falling into buckets attached around its outer edge.&lt;P&gt;P DX354 PH2/6/7</SPAN></SPAN></P></DIV>

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