Mill Green Mill, history and technology

To see pictures of the mill, click here for a panoramic tour.

Mill Green Mill, History and Technology

There has probably been a mill on this site since Saxon times, for the Doomsday survey of 1086 records that the manor of "Hetfelle", held by the Abbot of Ely, included four mills. With the dissolution of the monasteries during the reign of Henry VIII the manor of Hatfield, and thus Mill Green Watermill, came under the control of the crown. The crown maintained control until the Cecil Family took over the Hatfield estate in the early part of the 17th Century.

Mill Green Watermill remained a part of The Cecil Family estate until its purchase by Hatfield Rural District Council in the 1950s.

Down through the centuries the mill has seen many alterations and repairs. The date and initials "17 IB 62", which are still visible on a front wall brick, suggests a major rebuild was undertaken during the latter part of the 18th Century. This was probably connected with the need to increase milling capacity as the medieval system - "soke" - fell into disuse. The initials "IB" are most likely those of Joseph Biggs, a prominent entrepreneur in the area at that time. A signature dating from 1824, visible on the first floor Hurst frame, may indicate further structural work.

How the mill fell into disuse

Modernisation of the milling industry meant that by the early 1900s the local grocer was able to supply flour much cheaper than the local mill, and so traditional milling, and, inevitably, millers themselves, began to disappear.

In 1911 the miller at Mill Green, one Sydney Christmas Lawrence, dropped the sluice gate and closed the front door for the very last time. After his emigration to Australia both the building and machinery were left to fall into disrepair.

Restoration

Plans to restore the mill were first formulated in the early 1970s.

The Mill Green Watermill Restoration Trust, set up in 1979, pooled the resources of a large number of interested groups and individuals.

A new staircase and first floor were installed, and the pit wheel and Hurst frame were both repaired.

The work was concluded in 1986 with the replacement of the waterwheel and millstones.

Following a break of 75 years the wheels and gears roared back into life, the millstones began to grind and Mill Green Flour was once again being made.

Things to see on your visit

Watermill machinery

The power harnessed by the waterwheel is transmitted to the millstones via a series of gears

The large, cast-iron vertical gear, (or "pit wheel"), rotates on the same axle, and thus at the same speed, as the waterwheel itself.

The smaller, cast-iron horizontal gear, (called "the wallower"), transforms the vertical to a horizontal motion, and increases the overall speed of rotation.

The large wooden gear near the ceiling is "the great spur wheel". Before any milling takes place one of the two small, cast-iron gears known as "stone nuts" is dropped into mesh with it. The stone nut then drives a spindle, upon which the "runner stone" is balanced.

The entire gearing system gives a total ratio of approximately 15-1.

Millstones

The original millstones from the mill were removed some time in the past.

The two pairs of stones now in use are second-hand and made of French burr - a type of quartz that is well suited for fine milling.

There are two stones in each pair. The top one is called the "runner stone" which, when in use, is balanced on a spindle above the gear ("stone nut") that drives it.

Directly under the runner stone is the "bed stone", which is set into the mill floor and remains stationary.

The stationary "bed stone" is set into the floor of the mill. The "runner stone" is balanced on a spindle that is turned by the "stone nut" below.

The grain is fed into the "eye" of the runner, ground between the two stones and then guided to the outer edge along the furrows. The resulting flour is then pushed down a hole by a metal scraper attached to the runner stone. This hole leads to a "flour chute" on the floor below, and at the end of this chute is a sack for collecting the flour.

Millstone Furniture

The millstones are enclosed in a wooden "tun" to prevent any of the newly ground flour from spilling out onto the floor.

The opening on top of the tun is spanned by a wooden frame known as "the horse".

The horse, in turn, supports the tapered "hopper".

Grain travels down through the hopper and into an inclined spout called "the shoe". The angle of the shoe controls the amount of grain flowing into the millstones. This angle is adjusted by means of a crook string, which links the shoe to a twist peg that can be operated by the miller on the ground floor, (also known as the "meal floor").

The metal, whisk-like object is named "the damsel".

The damsel rotates with the runner stone and shakes the shoe from side to side, helping the grain along. This action creates a constant chattering noise - which may go some way to explaining how this particular object got its rather unusual name.

The shoe is held in tension by means of a string attached to a wooden spring called "the miller’s willow", or "the miller’s wand".

It is important that the miller knows when more grain needs to be fed into the hopper, so the grain in the hopper sits on top of a leather belt.

Attached to this belt is a length of string with a bell on the end, and this bell hangs above the "crown wheel".

When the weight of grain is insufficient to hold the belt down, (and the bell up), gravity takes over forcing the bell to drop onto the crown wheel, and begin ringing.

The Sack Hoist

The sack hoist is used to lift sacks of grain from the ground floor, ("meal floor"), to the loft, ("bin floor"). Here the grain is stored before being placed into large wooden "bins" for milling.

The sacks are pulled up by a chain, which is lowered from the bin floor through a series of trapdoors. The chain is then looped around the top of the sack and rewound onto a rotating drum. This drum is powered by a belt, which is driven by the gear known as the "crown wheel".

The bottom of this belt can be seen if you look directly above the millstones on the first floor.

The trapdoors below have leather hinges to ensure that they fall shut again once a sack has passed through. The sack hoist has also been the saviour of many a miller’s weary back!

We hope you enjoyed this description. Come and visit in person, and the millers will be delighted to tell you much more about this rare and remarkable mill.

Our current Millers continuing the tradition are:

• Simon Spencer
• Dave Knight
• Mike King (Senior Miller and Millwright)
• Joe Taylor
• Alex Curtis
• John Cassidy

To learn more about mills, visit www.tcmg.org.uk