Wellington Mill

In 2000 a team of archaeologists from Worcestershire County Archaeological Service uncovered the remains of one of the earliest medieval watermills yet to be identified in England. The work, at Wellington Quarry in Herefordshire, was undertaken in close co-operation with the quarry owners (Lafarge Redland Aggregates) and Herefordshire Archaeology.

It enabled the careful investigation of a well-preserved rectangular structure, constructed from substantial oak beams. Fragments of several large millstones were also found and, although the upper elements of the structure had been robbed in ancient times, sufficient evidence survived to indicate that the large beams formed the base of the wheel pit for a vertical waterwheel.

Preliminary dating of some of the timbers, using the technique of dendrochronology (tree-ring dating), has indicated that the watermill was probably built sometime during the first half of the 8th century AD. Although the Romans had introduced watermills to England, possibly as early as the 2nd century AD, archaeologists know very little about the use of water power over the following six centuries. Charters and other documents indicate that mills were commonplace in the medieval landscape. By the late 11th century, the Domesday Book records over 6,000 mills throughout England, yet only a handful of early watermills have been excavated.
 
Apart from the late 7th century vertical-wheeled mills found at Old Windsor in Berkshire, project leaders Robin Jackson and Simon Griffin believe that this exciting new find is the earliest medieval mill yet identified in England. It pre-dates any of the documented examples and makes an important contribution to the study of early medieval watermills.

The site raises some interesting questions about early medieval watermill technology. Although both horizontal- and vertical-wheeled mills have been found, it has often been assumed that initially horizontal wheels were more common because they use a simpler technology, without requiring complex gearing to transfer the power to the millstone. Now the discovery of a vertical-wheeled watermill of such an early date at Wellington, along with the still earlier example from Old Windsor, challenges this assumption and raises important questions about the character of the earliest medieval mills in Herefordshire.

[Original author: Robin Jackson of Worcestershire Historic Environment and Archaeology Service. Originally published in Historic Environment Today, Vol. 3 Issue 3, October 2000]