Eling Tide Mill
Operation
The tide mill has a pair of independent waterwheels designed to drive two sets of millstones each. One wheel and its associated millstones have been restored to operating condition and produces flour for sale. The other has been cosmetically restored as a static exhibit. The running wheel and its milling and other mechanisms are encased for safety of the miller and visitors, while the static wheel is immobile and kept that way to show visitors the detail that is obscured by the running mechanism's safety enclosures. The mill can be productive for between five and seven hours each day.
History
For much of the mill's life it was owned by Winchester College. A lease survives from the year 1418, when the College leased the mill to Thomas Mydlington, requiring him to maintain the mill and the causeway. The causeway was prone to collapse, for example it washed away in 1887. This problem continued up until 1940 when modern engineering calculations revealed the cause to be the design of the sluices. This was then corrected.
The tenancy of the mill included the right to collect tolls from vehicles using the causeway. Four-wheeled vehicles were charged 6d (2.5p) and two-wheeled vehicles 4d. These rates remained unchanged until 1970. More recently, the toll has been administered by Totton and Eling Town council, and is charged at one pound per car per day.
In 1967, the toll collector was Tom Mackrell who had been one of the last people to operate the mill when it closed in 1946. Tom was toll collector and mill foreman, working for his brother Raymond, master miller of Eling Tide Mill.
In 1975 the mill was sold to New Forest District Council by Winchester College for a nominal sum. It then underwent restoration before reopening in 1980 and is now run as the "Eling Tide Mill Experience."
References
- ^ "Eling Tide Mill History". Archived from the original on 17 November 2007. Retrieved 19 January 2012.
- ^ "Tide Mill". Historic England. Retrieved 15 January 2018.
- ^ "Hampshire Mills Group: Eling Tide Mill". Retrieved 7 August 2017.
- ^ Spain, Rob. "A possible Roman Tide Mill" (PDF). Member publications (5). Kent Archaeological Society: 34. Archived from the original (PDF) on 17 May 2011. Retrieved 16 September 2008.
- ^ Pannell, John Percival Masterman (1967). "Tide Mills". Old Southampton Shores, Newton Abbott. David and Charles. p. 196. ASIN B0000CNGOE.
- ^ "Eling... The Causeway". Hampshire Advertiser. 2 April 1887 – via British Newspaper Archive.
- ^ Smith, Diana (2010). Eling Tide Mill, The history of a working mill. New Forest District Council. p. 9.
- ^ "Totton and Eling Town Council - Car Parks".
- ^ Plunkett, David (2014). "Eling and Beaulieu Tide Mills: Restoring and Learning from the Past" (PDF). Hampshire Industrial Archaeology Society. 22: 26–29. Retrieved 3 March 2021.
- ^ "The Eling Tide Mill Experience". Totton and Eling Town Council. Retrieved 15 May 2022.
External links
- Former website "Eling Tide Mill". Archived from the original on 17 December 2007. Retrieved 14 April 2009.
- The Rarest Tide Mill by David Plunkett Archived 23 January 2010 at the Wayback Machine, Proceedings of the First Mill Research Conference, 1983