The Mills Archive

Stone floor in Watermill, Otterton Mill.
📸 E.M Gardner

Ever heard a word and thought, “There’s no way that’s real”?
Welcome to the world of traditional milling! Our milling glossary is absolutely packed with funny-sounding words. Thankfully, the brilliant illustrations by retired draughtsman and engineer John Brandrick are here to help bring some of them into perspective.

Grab an iced coffee and read our latest newsletter to learn a little more about the fascinating details of a traditional windmill.
Read here: https://mailchi.mp/millsarchive.org/archives-creation-and-creativity-7791078

A rather unusual sight? : A skeleton smock mill, used for stone-polishing, at Jordhann Quarries, island of Oland, Sweden, summer 1974.

From the Guy Blythman Collection.

The hydro project at the Rivermill in Eaton Socon demonstrates how renewable energy can build on the UK’s milling heritage, and keep mills generating clean energy into the 21st Century. VETT is a compact fish-friendly system sensitively integrated into the underground brick culverts of a 19th Century watermill. It extracts electricity from a low-head of only 1.2 m, generating enough electricity to power 22 homes and cutting 35 tonnes of CO₂ annually. All mechanical parts are submerged and silent, minimising visual and environmental disruption.

To find out how your mill could benefit from VETT, visit www.verderg.com or contact us at [email protected].



VerdErg Renewable Energy Ltd is a Mills Archive Trust sponsor and a member of the Trust's Sustainability Network.

Tower mill, Rotterdam, in Oostplein, sails revolving.
1953. Photographed by Stephen Buckland.

Here's a sneak peek into our copies of Alternate Sources of Energy (ASE), a bimonthly publication originally published by Don and Abby Marier and Eugen and Sany Eccli out of Milaca, Minnesota, started in 1972.

A true forum for experimentation, ASE initially began as a "mouthpiece" for small-scale researchers and DIY testers to share their findings and ideas on alternative technology, encompassing architecture, technology, agriculture, energy, and even anarchy, before evolving into a non-profit organization focused on education in "appropriate technology."

They proved that grassroots ingenuity could be scaled through institutional support: as Program Director, Abby Marier applied for grants from the Minnesota Energy Agency to help develop educational workshops for county agriculture extension agents, while the 1979 National Solar Energy Education Directory officially listed ASE as an educational provider.

Developing out of the 1970s oil crisis, many of these articles eerily echo the worries and urgency we feel in today's energy climate. The theories, ideas, and opinions of these early proponents of radical self-sufficiency help to prove that the urgency for a sustainable future is not a new phenomenon.

Preserving renewable energy history is vital to our collective understanding of the climate crisis today. The future has a history...and it was built from the ground up.

You can consult these magazines yourself, in person at The Mills Archive Trust. There are many articles that go beyond wind and water power, diving into the politics of nuclear power, reactions to government policies, manuals for developing your own solar shelter, or even a personal sauna, made of layers of (free) cardboard and wheat paste.

Happy Global Wind Day!

Today, we celebrate an invisible force that has shaped human civilization for millennia. Long before the modern wind turbine, humans were engineering ingenious ways to harness the breeze. From the vertical-axis windmills of ancient Persia used to grind grain, to the iconic Dutch mills that drained wetlands and powered early industry, wind has always been a key partner in agricultural, technological, and industrial progress.

In an era defined by the climate crisis and insecure global energy supplies, understanding this history is more important than ever. At the Mills Archive Trust, we believe that to build a sustainable future, we must preserve the brilliance of our past. This includes the constantly evolving green technology of today:the future history.

Visit us online at millsarchive.org or in person at our library in Reading to:

📜 Explore our extensive digital catalogue of historic mills.

⚙️ Trace the mechanical journey from ancient millstones to modern turbines.

💡 Read exclusive articles on the art, science, and heritage of milling.

Missed your mills? Fear not, because we are back with an exciting new talk by Director of the Mills Archive Trust, Liz Bartram, for Reading Climate Festival 2026.

🗓️ When? Wed 10 June 2026, 2pm-3pm GMT+1
💻 Zoom link will be sent out before the talk.
🙌 Sign Up Here
https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/echoes-of-energy-archiving-our-renewable-transitions-tickets-1988017364453?aff=odcleoeventsincollection

If you have any questions send us a dm 📥 or email us! 📧

Using documents from the archives, Liz Bartram traces how the legacy of traditional mills influenced early experiments in electricity generation; and what this means for our modern return to wind and water.

Today, as we accelerate the transition to renewable energy, a new challenge emerges: contemporary records of green innovation are often more vulnerable to loss than those already recognised as “historical.” How can we preserve the environmental memory of our current moment?

Join us to explore the role of The Mills Archive Trust in safeguarding the knowledge, experimentation and technology that underpin renewable energy from past to present.

This is the cap roof of the tower mill at Sporle, moved to Tottenhill post mill and set up as a shed. It was still there in 1998. The onion shaped cap (to be accurate an ogee cap) is a design feature commonly found in the Midlands and East Anglia.