Woodbridge Tide Mill facts for kids
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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 tides to turn its 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 considered a very important historical site in England. It's a tall, three-story building made of wood. The outside is covered in white wooden boards, and it 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 new machines changed how things were made. The mill has been carefully kept safe and is now open for everyone to visit. There's a small pond, or reservoir, near the mill that helps show how it works. The much bigger original pond is now a place where boats are kept, called a marina.
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History of the Tide Mill
People first recorded a tide mill on this spot way back in 1170, which was during the Middle Ages. We don't know exactly how many mills have stood here over the centuries, but it was probably three different ones.
Early Owners and Changes
In the Middle Ages, a group of monks called Augustinians ran the mill. But in 1536, King Henry VIII took over the mill during a time called the Dissolution of the Monasteries. This was when the King took control of many religious places. It's thought that the Augustinians might have rebuilt the mill just before this happened.
Later, Queen Elizabeth I gave this mill and the nearby Woodbridge Priory to a man named Thomas Seckford. After that, the mill was owned by different private families until it was rebuilt again in the 1600s. This is the same mill building that we can see and visit today!
From Working Mill to Museum
By the time World War II started, the Woodbridge Tide Mill was one of only a few tide mills still working in Britain. In 1957, it stopped grinding flour for businesses, becoming the last commercial tide mill in the country to close.
The mill then became old and neglected. But in 1968, a lady named Mrs. Jean Gardner bought the mill. She started a big project to fix it up. Five years later, in 1973, the mill opened its doors to the public as a museum.
Today, the mill is looked after by a charity called the Woodbridge Tide Mill Trust. Volunteers help run the mill and show people around. In 2011, the trust did another big restoration project. They put in a new water wheel and fixed all the old machinery. This meant the mill could start grinding wheat again! It reopened in 2012. Now, the Woodbridge Tide Mill is the only tide mill in the UK that regularly grinds wheat to make wholemeal flour that you can buy.
More About Mills
- Watermills in the United Kingdom
- Eling Tide Mill
Other mills that are in or near Woodbridge:
