A water-powered corn mill is shown on old maps at Croucheston, near Salisbury:
There is a small building currently at this location, but the footprint is slightly different suggesting the original mill may have been demolished or rebuilt.
Nevertheless I had a look anyway and found the mill race with remains of a water wheel transmission next to it - just an axle with the hub of the wheel at one end and a gear (pit wheel) at the other.
The nearby building which might have been a mill was not accessible so I don’t know whether there’s anything in that.
However immediately adjacent is a derelict modern feed mill, also called Croucheston Mill.
Having been round a few of the older water-powered feed mills it seemed worth looking at a modern version for comparison.
And this one is quite recent, operating, as far as I can tell, from the late 60s until 1998, producing about 13,000 tonnes of feed annually.
It may have closed because the only access is down a narrow windy road, not ideal for lorries.
It’s basically a big shed with various machines and hoppers at the front and storage bins behind.
A little control centre.
Some paperwork.
Some things on the ground floor including a drier/cooller for pelleted feed, and a big tank of molasses.
In the middle of the building.
A room on the first floor with a hammer mill - these are general purpose pulverisers with fast spinning metal blades.
This one was made by Christy Norris, still going as Christy Turner in Norwich.
Upstairs are more conveyers etc. and the tops of storage bins.
It's not a big place but the locals have so far successfully blocked all attempts to redevelop the site as housing, so it will probably be there a while longer.
There is a small building currently at this location, but the footprint is slightly different suggesting the original mill may have been demolished or rebuilt.
Nevertheless I had a look anyway and found the mill race with remains of a water wheel transmission next to it - just an axle with the hub of the wheel at one end and a gear (pit wheel) at the other.
The nearby building which might have been a mill was not accessible so I don’t know whether there’s anything in that.
However immediately adjacent is a derelict modern feed mill, also called Croucheston Mill.
Having been round a few of the older water-powered feed mills it seemed worth looking at a modern version for comparison.
And this one is quite recent, operating, as far as I can tell, from the late 60s until 1998, producing about 13,000 tonnes of feed annually.
It may have closed because the only access is down a narrow windy road, not ideal for lorries.
It’s basically a big shed with various machines and hoppers at the front and storage bins behind.
A little control centre.
Some paperwork.
Some things on the ground floor including a drier/cooller for pelleted feed, and a big tank of molasses.
In the middle of the building.
A room on the first floor with a hammer mill - these are general purpose pulverisers with fast spinning metal blades.
This one was made by Christy Norris, still going as Christy Turner in Norwich.
Upstairs are more conveyers etc. and the tops of storage bins.
It's not a big place but the locals have so far successfully blocked all attempts to redevelop the site as housing, so it will probably be there a while longer.
