Woodbridge Tide Mill facts for kids
.jpg)
The Woodbridge Tide Mill is a very special building located in Woodbridge, Suffolk, England. It's a rare type of mill that uses the power of the ocean's tides to turn its big water wheel. What makes it even more amazing is that it can still grind grain into wholemeal flour today!
This mill is a Grade I listed building, which means it's a really important historical site that needs to be protected. It's a three-story building made of wood, painted white on the outside, and has a unique roof shape called a Gambrel roof. The machines inside show how clever people were during the early Industrial Revolution, a time when many new machines were invented. The mill has been carefully looked after and is now open for everyone to visit. There's a small pond, about half an acre, where they show how the mill works. The much larger original pond, which was about 7 acres, is now a place where boats are kept, called a marina.
A Long History of Woodbridge Tide Mill
People have been using a tide mill on this spot for a very long time, with the first one recorded way back in 1170! We don't know exactly how many mills have stood here over the centuries, but it's probably been three different ones. In the Middle Ages, a group of monks called Augustinians ran the mill.
Later, in 1536, King Henry VIII took over the mill during a time when many monasteries were closed down. It's thought that the Augustinian monks might have rebuilt the mill just before this happened. This mill, along with the nearby Woodbridge Priory, was later given to a man named Thomas Seckford by Queen Elizabeth I. The mill then belonged to different private owners until it was rebuilt in the 1600s. This is the mill building you can see today!
By the time World War II started, only a few tide mills were still working in Britain. The Woodbridge Tide Mill kept going until 1957, when it became the last commercial tide mill in the country to close its doors.
Bringing the Mill Back to Life
In 1968, a lady named Mrs. Jean Gardner bought the mill, which was no longer being used and was falling apart. She started a big project to fix it up. Five years later, in 1973, the mill opened its doors to the public again!
Today, the mill is looked after by a charity called the Woodbridge Tide Mill Trust. Many dedicated volunteers help run the mill and welcome visitors. In 2011, the trust began an even bigger project to restore and update the mill. They put in a brand new water wheel and fixed all the old machinery. This meant that the mill could start grinding grain again!
The Woodbridge Tide Mill reopened in 2012. It is now the only tide mill in the United Kingdom that regularly grinds wheat to make wholemeal flour for sale. Another famous tide mill, the Eling Tide Mill in Hampshire, is currently having some maintenance issues, making Woodbridge Tide Mill truly unique in its operation.
Other Mills Nearby
- Watermills in the United Kingdom
- Eling Tide Mill
- Buttrum's Mill, Woodbridge
- Tricker's Mill, Woodbridge
- Ramsey Windmill, Essex
