Woodbridge Tide Mill in Woodbridge

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. The town is served by Woodbridge railway station on the Ipswich-Lowestoft East Suffolk Line. Woodbridge is twinned with...

, Suffolk

Suffolk

Suffolk is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in East Anglia, England. It has borders with Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south. The North Sea lies to the east...

, England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 is a rare example of a tide mill

Tide mill

A tide mill is a water mill driven by tidal rise and fall. A dam with a sluice is created across a suitable tidal inlet, or a section of river estuary 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...

 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

Industrial Revolution

The Industrial Revolution was a period from the 18th to the 19th century where major changes in agriculture, manufacturing, mining, transportation, and technology had a profound effect on the social, economic and cultural conditions of the times...

. The mill is a three storey building constructed from wood. Externally it is clad in white Suffolk boarding and has a Gambrel

Gambrel

A gambrel is a usually-symmetrical two-sided roof with two slopes on each side. The upper slope is positioned at a shallow angle, while the lower slope is steep. This design provides the advantages of a sloped roof while maximizing headroom on the building's upper level...

 roof. The reservoir constructed for demonstration purposes is roughly half an acre in extent, the original 7 acres (28,328 m²) one is now a marina. It is a Grade I listed building.

History

The first recording of a tide mill on this site was in 1170; it is unknown how many mills have stood here. The mill, which was operated by the local Augustinian priory in the Middle Ages

Middle Ages

The Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...

, was acquired by Henry VIII

Henry VIII of England

Henry VIII was King of England from 21 April 1509 until his death. He was Lord, and later King, of Ireland, as well as continuing the nominal claim by the English monarchs to the Kingdom of France...

 at the Dissolution of the Monasteries in 1536.

By the outbreak of World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

 the mill was one of the few still operating. In 1957 it closed as the last commercially operating tide mill in Britain. In 1968 the derelict mill was purchased by Mrs Jean Gardner and a restoration programme was launched. It was opened to the public five years later in 1973.

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. It is estimated that at this time there were well in excess of ten thousand watermills in the country...
  
  
• Eling Tide Mill
  Eling Tide Mill
  Eling Tide Mill, situated on an artificial causeway in Eling in Hampshire, England, is one of only two remaining operating tide mills in the United Kingdom. The other is Woodbridge Tide Mill. Whilst a mill is mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086, there is no evidence that there is any connection...
  
  

Other mills in, or strongly connected with Woodbridge:-

• Buttrum's Mill, Woodbridge
  Buttrum's Mill, Woodbridge
  Buttrum's Mill or Trott's Mill is a Grade II listed tower mill at Woodbridge, Suffolk, England which has been restored to working order.-History:...
  
  
• Tricker's Mill, Woodbridge
  Tricker's Mill, Woodbridge
  Tricker's Mill is a Grade II listed tower mill at Woodbridge, Suffolk, England which has been incorporated to a sheltered housing scheme.-History:...
  
  
• Ramsey Windmill, Essex
  Ramsey Windmill, Essex
  Ramsey Windmill is a grade II* listed Post mill at Ramsey, Essex, England which has been restored.-History:Ramsey Windmill was originally built in Woodbridge, Suffolk. It was the north westerly one of four mills on the Mill Hills shown on the 1838 tithe map. The mill was moved to Ramsey in 1842 by...
  
  

External links

• Woodbridge Tide Mill
• Types of Mills
• Page at geograph with several images of the mill