Connor's Mill is a steam driven

flour mill A gristmill (also: grist mill, corn mill, flour mill, feed mill or feedmill) grinds cereal grain into flour and middlings. The term can refer to either the grinding mechanism or the building that holds it. Grist is grain that has been separated ...

located on Stirling Terrace in Toodyay,

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to ...

. The mill is still operational; the

Shire of Toodyay The Shire of Toodyay is a local government area in the Wheatbelt region of Western Australia, beyond the north-eastern limits of the Perth metropolitan area. The Shire covers an area of , and its seat of government is the town of Toodyay. H ...

protected the then dilapidated building in 1975 and established the Toodyay Tourist Centre. It is now one of the town's main tourist attractions.

History

The mill was built in 1870 by local builder George Hassel for Dan Connor, a store owner. It was the third built in the Toodyay district. The mill originally had a shingle roof, no turret and a slide from the first floor doorway to wagon height. This was used to slide bags of flour onto the wagons waiting below. Little is known about the internal workings of the mill. The original grind mill is seen on the lawn outside. The grindstone machine was originally from Newgain and donated by Langley Lefroy and initially owned by the Twines. The big wheel drive mechanism was originally from the mill at Northam. During the 1880s Charles Marris leased and eventually bought the mill, operating it until the turn of the century. The flour produced was of very high quality, presenting the established Drummond and Monger mills with good competition. In 1870, flour from the mill won an award at an exhibition in

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/ Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a me ...

. In 1917, Charles Marris sold the mill to Charles Lukin, who reconditioned the building as a

power station A power station, also referred to as a power plant and sometimes generating station or generating plant, is an industrial facility for the generation of electric power. Power stations are generally connected to an electrical grid. Many p ...

for the town. The first power generating engine was installed in a galvanized iron extension to the rear of the mill. In 1921, a major fire destroyed all machinery within the power house. The charred top floor roofing beams are still evident today. After the fire, engineer Mr N. Garvey installed a new Stockport

gas engine A gas engine is an internal combustion engine that runs on a gaseous fuel, such as coal gas, producer gas, biogas, landfill gas or natural gas. In the United Kingdom, the term is unambiguous. In the United States, due to the widespread use of ...

in the annex to provide power to the town. This generator had a unique starting procedure. The operator would place a foot on a

flywheel A flywheel is a mechanical device which uses the conservation of angular momentum to store rotational energy; a form of kinetic energy proportional to the product of its moment of inertia and the square of its rotational speed. In particular, assu ...

spoke, held onto the roof timbers and treadmill the belt. When sufficient momentum was obtained, the operator would jump off the wheel and turn the

magneto A magneto is an electrical generator that uses permanent magnets to produce periodic pulses of alternating current. Unlike a dynamo, a magneto does not contain a commutator to produce direct current. It is categorized as a form of alternator, ...

on. In 1922 the Road Board assumed control of the power service. The generator provided lighting to the town from 4pm to midnight, seven nights a week. The Municipal Council ran the power station until 1955, when the

electrical grid An electrical grid is an interconnected network for electricity delivery from producers to consumers. Electrical grids vary in size and can cover whole countries or continents. It consists of:Kaplan, S. M. (2009). Smart Grid. Electrical Power ...

operated by the State Energy Commission was connected to Toodyay. The building was deserted from 1955 to 1975.

Current use

In 1975 the

established the Toodyay Tourist Centre in the mill building, following a restoration project which included the construction of a staircase to the upper floors. The engine was donated to the Shire in 1974 and ex industrial factory engineer Graham Jones helped move the engine to its present location. Due to the engine's size, bricks from around the front door had to be removed.

References

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External links

{{commons category-inline, Connor's Mill Museums in Western Australia State Register of Heritage Places in the Shire of Toodyay Flour mills in Australia Mill museums in Australia Agriculture museums in Australia Buildings and structures in Toodyay, Western Australia Stirling Terrace, Toodyay