Howsham Mill is a Grade II listed 18th century

watermill A watermill or water mill is a mill that uses hydropower. It is a structure that uses a water wheel or water turbine to drive a mechanical process such as mill (grinding), milling (grinding), rolling, or hammering. Such processes are needed in ...

located on the River Derwent in

North Yorkshire North Yorkshire is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in Northern England.The Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority areas of City of York, York and North Yorkshire (district), North Yorkshire are in Yorkshire and t ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

History

Howsham Mill dates back to and is attributed to John Carr of York. It was built in the

Gothic Revival Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic or neo-Gothic) is an Architectural style, architectural movement that after a gradual build-up beginning in the second half of the 17th century became a widespread movement in the first half ...

style both as a working

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

to grind

grains A grain is a small, hard, dry fruit ( caryopsis) – with or without an attached hull layer – harvested for human or animal consumption. A grain crop is a grain-producing plant. The two main types of commercial grain crops are cereals and le ...

into

flour Flour is a powder made by Mill (grinding), grinding raw grains, List of root vegetables, roots, beans, Nut (fruit), nuts, or seeds. Flours are used to make many different foods. Cereal flour, particularly wheat flour, is the main ingredie ...

and as an ''eyecatcher'' or

folly In architecture, a folly is a building constructed primarily for decoration, but suggesting through its appearance some other purpose, or of such extravagant appearance that it transcends the range of usual garden buildings. Eighteenth-cent ...

within the formal parkscape of nearby

Howsham Hall Howsham Hall is a grade I listed Jacobean stately home in Howsham, North Yorkshire, England. It is built in two storeys of limestone ashlar to a U-shaped plan with a 7-bay frontage. History In the early 16th century the Howsham estate belon ...

. The mill was powered by a breastshot

waterwheel A water wheel is a machine for converting the kinetic energy of flowing or falling water into useful forms of power, often in a watermill. A water wheel consists of a large wheel (usually constructed from wood or metal), with numerous blade ...

connected by a gear wheel to

millstones Millstones or mill stones are stones used in gristmills, used for Trituration, triturating, crusher, crushing or, more specifically, grinding wheat or other grains. They are sometimes referred to as grindstones or grinding stones. Millstone ...

that grind the grain into flour. Milling of flour ceased in 1947 and the building fell into decay by the 1960s.

Restoration

Archimedean Screw Turbine at Howsham Mill

In 2004 the Renewable Heritage Trust was formed by local residents with the intention of preserving and restoring the mill. Fund raising, volunteer labour and grant funding, totalling £450,000 has enabled the installation of a new waterwheel and a

screw turbine file:Archimedes-screw one-screw-threads with-ball 3D-view animated smal back.gif, Reverse action of the Archimedean screw, the principle of the screw turbine gaining energy from water flowing down through the screw file:Helical screw single double ...

based on the

Archimedean screw The Archimedes' screw, also known as the Archimedean screw, hydrodynamic screw, water screw or Egyptian screw, is one of the earliest documented hydraulic machines. It was so-named after the Greek mathematician Archimedes who first described it ...

principle to generate electricity and help fund the project in the long term. The first phase of the restoration was completed in 2007 and involved installing the new waterwheel and Archimedean screw as well as rebuilding the walls and roof of the granary to the north of the main building, allowing the installation of a kitchen and toilets as well as housing the control equipment for the hydro generation. Howsham Mill 04

The Mill was connected to the National Grid in 2010, allowing electricity generated to be sold. Restoration of the main part of the building was completed in 2013 providing facilities as an environmental study/community centre. A second, larger screw was commissioned in 2018 to provide additional hydro-electric generating capacity.

''Restoration Village''

In 2006 Howsham Mill was featured on the BBC television programme '' Restoration Village'' presented by

Griff Rhys Jones Griffith Rhys Jones (born 16 November 1953) is a Welsh actor, comedian, writer and television presenter. He starred in a number of television series with his comedy partner, Mel Smith. He and Smith came to national attention in the 1980s for ...

. It won the North regional heat and was featured in the live National Final on Sunday 17 September 2006. Although Howsham Mill did not win, a £50,000 Project Planning grant was won by reaching the final.

References

External links

Howsham Mill Official WebsiteHowsham Mill on the BBC Restoration WebsiteRenewable Heritage Trust Website
* {{coord, 54.0560, -0.8862, type:landmark_region:GB, display=title Grade II listed buildings in North Yorkshire Grinding mills in the United Kingdom Watermills in North Yorkshire Tourist attractions in North Yorkshire River Derwent, Yorkshire John Carr (architect) buildings Howsham, North Yorkshire

History

Restoration

''Restoration Village''

See also

References

External links