Records show there has been a mill in the village of Eling outside Southampton since at least 1418, which is the date of the first recorded lease on the site.
The flourmill stands on the causeway crossing the Bartley Water river and, since it is thought a Roman road passed through the village, it is not unreasonable to assume the causeway was on the route of this road. Two mills were recorded in Eling in the 1086 Domesday Book so it is possible this example has much earlier origins.
The existing mill is a tide mill. This method uses the advantage Eling has of two high tides each day. The water in front of the mill is Eling Creek, which in turn is at the end of Southampton Water. This inlet stands opposite the Isle of Wight and it is this feature that provides the two tides.
Flour is milled using the variation in height between the river behind and Eling Creek. The causeway acts as a dam and, when high tide floods the lower reaches of Bartley Water, the sluice gates under the road are closed thus trapping the water.
As the water level in the Creek start to fall, gates under the mill are opened and the river water forces itself through and onto the waiting millwheels in pits below the building.
At present there are two pits under the mill but only one contains a functioning wheel. This drives the machinery used to grind the corn and produce high quality flour currently sold locally.
The existing building dates from 1785 and has recently been bought by the local and progressive Totton and Eling Town Council. It provides a very interesting tourist attraction with a small shop and is run jointly with a tearoom, museum and visitor centre nearby.
As already mentioned, Eling Tide Mill has two waterwheels with only one in operation. The second wheel was previously left derelict but the Town Council has published plans to replace this and connect it to a hydroelectric generator to convert the tide flow into energy.
This innovation will lead to the mill providing reliable and environmentally electricity which can then be sold to the National Grid. It is thought the project would supply enough electricity for at least a row of houses.
The Domesday Book listed more than 6000 mills in Britain and it would be interesting to understand how many of the surviving buildings could be converted to energy production.
The Eling project is looking for financing of £1 million, which includes a refurbishment of the building itself, much of the total hopefully will be provided from British National Lottery funds.
To date the British National Lottery has raised more than £1 billion to finance such useful projects in heritage, the arts and sport. Perhaps the visionary plans at Eling deserve such support.
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