Bromham Mill
There was a mill on the site of Bromham Mill since before the Domesday survey in 1086. For centuries, the enormous wheel was turned only by the water of The Great River Ouse. In the 1920's a steam engine was installed to provide extra power but by then, Water Mill technology had become obsolete. It has since been renovated and visitors can once again watch flour milling at close quarters.
In the early years, the mill was a self-sufficient community. The river not only power the machinery but was also full of eels and other wildlife. There was a blacksmith's shop next door and pigs were reared on apples from the orchard and sweepings of grain and flour. Traditionally millers made gear teeth out of apple wood which was always available from the orchard.
The Mill has now been restored to its former glory and visitors are admitted during the year. A certain times visitors can once again see flour being ground much as it used to. Millers tell the same tall stories and the machinery creaks, groans and splashes away..
Photograph Copyright © John Crow 2001
