Mill Stones

Wheat Grinding Stones

Grinding Stones

Wheat grinding stones to mill wheat

Courtesy of Frances Tallon

Grinding Stones
Courtesy of Frances Tallon

Grinding Stones

Wheat grinding stones to mill wheat

Courtesy of Frances Tallon

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The working millstones are encased in wooden covers to contain the ground meal.

The grain is fed down from the hopper floor above into a metal chute called a shoe. One side of the shoe is lined with beech wood. An iron spindle called the damsel, projecting up from the metal tripod, taps against the beech wood pad of the shoe. An attached yew wood bow, used for its pliable nature, maintains tension and ensures a steady even flow of grain through the centre of the millstones.

Meal Bin

Wheaten meal falls into this meal box on the ground floor

Courtesy of Frances Tallon

Meal Bin
Courtesy of Frances Tallon

Meal Bin

Wheaten meal falls into this meal box on the ground floor

Courtesy of Frances Tallon

Enlarge image

Between the stones, visible on the display stones, is a hollow area radiating 24 centimetres outwards from the centre. This area holds about 25 kilos of wheat. Its purpose is the extraction by centrifugal force of the oil which is a natural part of the outer shell of the wheat grain. This oil spreads to the outer edges of the millstones, where the actual grinding happens. It keeps the stones cool and distributes the oil evenly through the milled wheat.

The milled grain is now called wheaten meal and contains the outer shell or bran, now broken open, the wheat germ or mealy centre of the grain and the naturally occurring oil. The wheaten meal falls out from the outer edges of the stones and the centrifugal force of the rotating stone wafts the meal towards an opening in the floor where it falls into a meal box on the ground floor below.