Haxted Watermill
Machinery
The current overshot waterwheel has a diameter of 10 feet (3.0 m) and a width of 9 feet (2.7 m). It was installed in about 1830, but by 1972 the 72 iron buckets had failed and were replaced by fibreglass replicas. The bearing-stone for an earlier, undershot waterwheel was found during renovation and this dates to the fourteenth century. In full working order the current wheel produced about 11 horsepower (8.2 kW), rotating at 8 r.p.m. and driving three pairs of millstones, through gearing, at 120 r.p.m. The Pit Wheel and Wallower are of the same date as the waterwheel, but the Great Spur Wheel, made of oak with applewood teeth, has been dated to 1580. The mill originally operated three pairs of millstones, but in the later years of its working life one pair was removed.
References
A guide to Haxted Water Mill Museum, 1981
External links
- The History of Haxted Water Mill accessed 2008-07-24