A little water mill tucked away down a valley in the top right hand corner of Ireland.
The interesting thing about this one is that it’s fairly old, late 1700s, although like many old mills some bits have been replaced over the years.
First a map, showing how the water was abstracted from further upstream (south), the mill race contouring down one side of the valley.
This mill was just one of several flax and corn mills on the Carey River - another mill site is also shown near the road at the top.
A Google streetview looking south down the valley from the road since I forgot to take a photo.
The buildings on the right are the ones near the road mentioned above - they looked to be empty. Ballyvennaght Mill is just out of sight in the distance.
An outside view - the other building on the left is an empty derelict cottage containing the remains of a grain drying kiln.
Some phone pics of the backshot water wheel. The water came from up the hill on the right, probably along a projecting wooden channel.
The wheel turned this large cast iron gear inside…
...which turned the little gear X which was directly connected to the grinding stones above.
This type of simple arrangement is usually only found in older mills - later designs incorporate a rotating vertical shaft with extra gears which allowed the stones to spin faster.
The bottom bearing of X is set in a beam, pivoted such that the tilt can be varied with a lever upstairs, adjusting the distance between the stones.
On the left is a take-off for powering other machinery such as the remains of the winnower below, which I started to reconstruct from bits…
...and an oscillating sieve for purifying the meal.
A thresher missing a leg which was lying in the mud.
Sacks of grain were hauled upstairs through the trap door by rope wound around the rotating beam….
…and the grain tipped into the funnel above the stones.
It’s a nice little place if you’re into agricultural mills, used only as a cattle shelter these days.
More information, particularly on the historical significance, can be found here https://apps.communities-ni.gov.uk/Buildings/buildview.aspx?id=18336&js=false.
The interesting thing about this one is that it’s fairly old, late 1700s, although like many old mills some bits have been replaced over the years.
First a map, showing how the water was abstracted from further upstream (south), the mill race contouring down one side of the valley.
This mill was just one of several flax and corn mills on the Carey River - another mill site is also shown near the road at the top.
A Google streetview looking south down the valley from the road since I forgot to take a photo.
The buildings on the right are the ones near the road mentioned above - they looked to be empty. Ballyvennaght Mill is just out of sight in the distance.
An outside view - the other building on the left is an empty derelict cottage containing the remains of a grain drying kiln.
Some phone pics of the backshot water wheel. The water came from up the hill on the right, probably along a projecting wooden channel.
The wheel turned this large cast iron gear inside…
...which turned the little gear X which was directly connected to the grinding stones above.
This type of simple arrangement is usually only found in older mills - later designs incorporate a rotating vertical shaft with extra gears which allowed the stones to spin faster.
The bottom bearing of X is set in a beam, pivoted such that the tilt can be varied with a lever upstairs, adjusting the distance between the stones.
On the left is a take-off for powering other machinery such as the remains of the winnower below, which I started to reconstruct from bits…
...and an oscillating sieve for purifying the meal.
A thresher missing a leg which was lying in the mud.
Sacks of grain were hauled upstairs through the trap door by rope wound around the rotating beam….
…and the grain tipped into the funnel above the stones.
It’s a nice little place if you’re into agricultural mills, used only as a cattle shelter these days.
More information, particularly on the historical significance, can be found here https://apps.communities-ni.gov.uk/Buildings/buildview.aspx?id=18336&js=false.
