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A tide mill is a specialist type of water mill
Watermill

A watermill is a structure that uses a water wheel or water turbine to drive a mechanical process such as flour, lumber or textile production, or metal shaping ....
 driven by tidal
Tide

Tides are the rising of Earth's ocean surface caused by the tidal forces of the Moon and the Sun acting on the oceans. Tides cause changes in the depth of the marine and estuary water bodies and produce oscillating currents known as tidal streams, making prediction of tides important for coastal navigation ....
 rise and fall.

A dam with a sluice
Sluice

A sluice is a water channel that is controlled at its head by a gate . For example, a millrace is a sluice that channels water toward a water mill....
 is created across a suitable tidal inlet, or a section of river estuary
Estuary

An estuary is a semi-enclosed coastal body of water with one or more rivers or streams flowing into it, and with a free connection to the open sea....
 is made into a reservoir. As the tide comes in, it enters the mill pond through a one way gate, and this gate closes automatically when the tide begins to fall. When the tide is low enough, the stored water can be released to turn a water wheel.

Tide mills are usually situated in river estuaries, away from the effects of waves but close enough to the sea to have a reasonable tidal range
Tidal range

The tidal range is the vertical difference between the highest high tide and the lowest low tide. In other words, it is the difference in height between high and low tides....
.






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A tide mill is a specialist type of water mill
Watermill

A watermill is a structure that uses a water wheel or water turbine to drive a mechanical process such as flour, lumber or textile production, or metal shaping ....
 driven by tidal
Tide

Tides are the rising of Earth's ocean surface caused by the tidal forces of the Moon and the Sun acting on the oceans. Tides cause changes in the depth of the marine and estuary water bodies and produce oscillating currents known as tidal streams, making prediction of tides important for coastal navigation ....
 rise and fall.

A dam with a sluice
Sluice

A sluice is a water channel that is controlled at its head by a gate . For example, a millrace is a sluice that channels water toward a water mill....
 is created across a suitable tidal inlet, or a section of river estuary
Estuary

An estuary is a semi-enclosed coastal body of water with one or more rivers or streams flowing into it, and with a free connection to the open sea....
 is made into a reservoir. As the tide comes in, it enters the mill pond through a one way gate, and this gate closes automatically when the tide begins to fall. When the tide is low enough, the stored water can be released to turn a water wheel.

Tide mills are usually situated in river estuaries, away from the effects of waves but close enough to the sea to have a reasonable tidal range
Tidal range

The tidal range is the vertical difference between the highest high tide and the lowest low tide. In other words, it is the difference in height between high and low tides....
. These mills have existed since the Middle Ages
Middle Ages

File:Karl 1 mit papst gelasius gregor1 sacramentar v karl d kahlen.jpgThe Middle Ages of European history are a period in history which lasted for roughly a millennium, commonly dated from the fall of the Roman Empire in the 5th century to the beginning of the Early Modern Period in the 16th century, marked by the division of Western Christi...
, and some may go back to the Roman period.

Early history

Tidal Mill Brehat France
Possibly the earliest tide mill was located in London
London

London is the capital of both England and the United Kingdom, and the most populous municipality in the European Union. An important settlement for two millennia, History of London goes back to its founding by the Roman Empire....
 on the River Fleet
River Fleet

The River Fleet is the largest of London's Subterranean rivers of Londons. Its two headwaters are two streams on Hampstead Heath; each is now dammed into a series of ponds made in the 18th century, the Hampstead Ponds and the Highgate Ponds....
, dating back to Roman
Ancient Rome

Ancient Rome was a civilization that grew out of a small agricultural community founded on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 10th century BC....
 times. The earliest excavated tide mill, dating from 787, is the Nendrum Monastery mill
Nendrum Monastery mill

The Nendrum Monastery mill was a tide mill on an island in Strangford Lough in Northern Ireland. It is the earliest excavated tide mill, dating from 787....
 on an island in Strangford Lough
Strangford Lough

Strangford Lough is a lough in County Down, Northern Ireland, separated from the Irish Sea by the Ards Peninsula. It is a popular tourist attraction noted for its fishing and the picturesque villages and townships which border its waters....
 in Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland

conventional_long_name = Northern Ireland|native_name= Tuaisceart ?ireannNorlin Airlann|motto =|image_map = Europe location N-IRL2.png...
. Its millstones are 830mm in diameter and the horizontal wheel is estimated to have developed 7/8HP at its peak. Remains of an earlier mill dated at 619 were also found.

The earliest recorded tide mill in England
England

native_name =|conventional_long_name = England|common_name = England|image_flag = Flag of England.svg|image_coat = England COA.svg|symbol_type = Royal Coat of Arms...
 was in Dover
Dover

Dover is a town and major ferry port in the county of Kent, in South East England. It faces France across the narrowest part of the English Channel....
 harbour, mentioned in the Domesday book
Domesday Book

The Domesday Book is the record of the great survey of England completed in 1086, executed for William I of England, or William the Conqueror....
 (1086). The book also mentioned the mills on the River Lea at Three Mills
Three Mills

The Three Mills are former working mills on the River Lee in the East End of London, one of London?s oldest extant industrial centres. The largest and most powerful of the four remaining Tide Mill is possibly the largest tidal mill in the world....
 Island, now in London's docklands (see House Mill
House Mill

The House Mill is a major Grade I listed building, first built in 1776 by Danniel Bisson. It was damaged by fire, and then rebuilt byPhilip Metcalfe in 1802....
). By the 18th Century these had become the largest in England. There were many tide mills in London, including two on London Bridge.

Woodbridge Tide Mill
Woodbridge Tide Mill

Woodbridge Tide Mill in Woodbridge, Suffolk, Suffolk, England is a rare example of a tide mill whose water wheel still turns.The mill has been preserved and is open to the public, its machinery reflects the skills and achievements of the early Industrial Revolution....
, an excellent example, survives at Woodbridge, Suffolk
Woodbridge, Suffolk

Woodbridge is a town in Suffolk, East Anglia, England. It is in the East of England, not far from the coast. It lies along the River Deben, with a population of about 7,480 although this seems larger due to the number of surrounding villages....
, England
England

native_name =|conventional_long_name = England|common_name = England|image_flag = Flag of England.svg|image_coat = England COA.svg|symbol_type = Royal Coat of Arms...
. This mill, dating from 1170 and reconstructed in 1792, has been preserved and is open to the public. Its water wheel can be seen turning. Carew Castle
Carew Castle

Carew Castle is a castle in the civil parish of Carew, Pembrokeshire in the Wales county of Pembrokeshire. The famous Carew family take their name from the place, and still own the castle, although it is leased to the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park, which administers the site....
 in Wales
Wales

native_name = Cymru|conventional_long_name = Wales|common_name = Wales|image_flag = Flag of Wales 2.svg|national_motto = ...
 also has an intact, but unused, tide mill. The only working tide mill in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom , the UK or Britain,is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe....
 is Eling Tide Mill
Eling Tide Mill

Eling Tide Mill is situated on an artificial causeway in Totton and Eling in Hampshire, England. It is the sole remaining operating tide mill in the UK that has a pair of independent waterwheels designed to drive a millstone each....
 in Eling
Totton and Eling

Totton and Eling is a town and civil parish in Hampshire, United Kingdom, with a population of around 28,000 people. It is situated on the eastern edge of the New Forest and on the River Test, close to the city of Southampton and part of the city's Greater Southampton...
, Hampshire
Hampshire

Hampshire , sometimes historically Southamptonshire, Hamptonshire, , or the County of Southampton, is a Counties of England on the south coast of England....
. Another example, now only visible in historic documents, is the mill in the hamlet
Hamlet (place)

A hamlet is usually a rural Human settlement which is too small to be considered a village, though sometimes the word is used for a different sort of community....
 of Tide Mills, East Sussex
Tide Mills, East Sussex

Tide Mills is a derelict village in East Sussex, England. It lies about 2 km southeast of Newhaven, East Sussex and 4 km northwest of Seaford, East Sussex and is near both Bishopstone, East Sussex and East Blatchington....
.

A mediaeval tidemill still operates at Rupelmonde
Rupelmonde

Rupelmonde is a town in the municipality of Kruibeke, in the Belgium province of East Flanders. It stands on the bank of the river Schelde opposite the confluence of the eponymous Rupel, and is famed for its sundials as well as having what is probably Belgium's only tidemill....
 near Antwerp, and there are several still in existence in the Netherlands
Netherlands

The Netherlands is a country that is part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It is a parliamentary democratic constitutional monarchy. The Netherlands is located in North-West Europe, and bordered by the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east....
.

At one time there were 750 tide mills operating along the shores of the Atlantic Ocean. Approximately 300 in North America, 200 in the British Isles, and 100 in France. The Rance
Rance River

The Rance is a river of northwestern France. It flows into the English Channel between Dinard and Saint-Malo.Before reaching the Channel, its waters are barred by a 750 metre long dam forming the Rance tidal power plant....
 estuary in France
France

France , officially the French Republic , is a country whose Metropolitan France is located in Western Europe and that also comprises various Overseas departments and territories of France....
 was also home to some of these mills.

Modern examples

Newer types of tidal power
Tidal power

Tidal power, sometimes called tidal energy, is a form of hydropower that converts the energy of tides into electricity or other useful forms of power....
 often propose a dam across a large river estuary. Although it represents a source of renewable energy
Renewable energy

Renewable energy is energy generated from natural resources—such as sunlight, wind, rain, tidal energy and geothermal energy—which are Renewable resource ....
, each proposal tends to come under local opposition because of its likely impact on coastal habitats. One proposal, which came to fruition in 1966, is the Rance barrage
Rance tidal power plant

The Rance tidal power plant was opened on the 26th November 1966 and is the world's first electricity generation station powered by tidal power....
 which generates 250MW. Unlike historical tide mills which could only operate on an ebb tide
Ebb Tide

"Ebb Tide" is a popular music song, written in 1953 in music by lyrics Carl Sigman and composer Robert Maxwell .It has been recorded many times, the best-known versions include those by Frank Chacksfield & His Orchestra , a successful vocal version in the same year by Vic Damone, Frank Sinatra , The Platters , Lenny Welch and the Righteou...
, the Rance barrage can generate electricity on both flows of the tide or it can be used for pumped storage
Pumped-storage hydroelectricity

Pumped storage hydroelectricity is a type of hydroelectric power generation used by some power plants for load balancing . The method stores energy in the form of water, pumped from a lower elevation reservoir to a higher elevation....
 depending on demand. A less intrusive design is for a 1MW free standing turbine, being constructed at Strangford Lough Narrows - also close to an old tide mill.

See also

  • Watermills in the United Kingdom
    Watermills in the United Kingdom

    The use of water power in Britain was at its peak just before the Industrial Revolution. The need for power was great and steam power had not yet become established....
  • Tidal power
    Tidal power

    Tidal power, sometimes called tidal energy, is a form of hydropower that converts the energy of tides into electricity or other useful forms of power....
     for modern projects


Further reading

  • McErlean, T. & Crothers, N.: “Harnessing the Tides: The Early Medieval Tide Mills at Nendrum Monastery, Strangford Lough”, 2007, The Stationery Office, UK, ISBN 0337088772
  • Minchinton, W. E. : "Early Tide Mills: Some Problems", Technology and Culture, Vol. 20, No. 4 (Oct. 1979), pp. 777-786
  • Rynne, Colin: "Milling in the 7th Century – Europe’s earliest tide mills", in: Archaeology Ireland 6, 1992
  • Spain, Rob: , Paper submitted to the Kent Archaeological Society


External links

  • - catalogue of tide mills by county
  • - detailed documentation of excavation
  • (Spanish)