The Watermill at Bunbury

Abstract

No mill could have been created without the millwright, and no historical background complete without his mention. Millwrighting was a craft which grew up with the invention of the water and windmills. It was a completely adaptable craft, for no two mills were ever the same. It had no previous technologies to guide it, except for the construction of the wheel itself and the construction of the building. Both of these crafts came together under the jurisdiction of the one man who had to adapt them to his needs. The wheel needed modifying to take the strains imposed upon it and, more importantly, for cogs or paddles to be fitted. The buildings, and here I include the ancillary constructions to direct the water onto the wheel, had to be custom made to suit the millwright, for this later became the task of the mason.