Grinding grain with tidal power
A large area in the Lea valley between the Thames and the Olympic site was an ugly wasteland left behind by the chemical industry until a few years ago. Thanks to the cleaning-up and greening of the waterways here, an older industrial location, which is anything but ugly, has more pleasant surroundings.
Mills on the place now called Three Mills Island were recorded in Domesday Book in 1086. They probably used tide power even at this early date. Rising water flowed into a reservoir and was retained there by sluice gates. It then flowed back into the river during ebb tide, turning water wheels. As this technology was perfected over centuries, by 1938 the mill wheels could be operated for seven or eight hours during each tide. In the 16th century the components of gunpowder were being milled here, as well as flour. Huge demand for gin in the 18th century kept the wheels turning to grind the required grain. In 1776 the Huguenot Daniel Bisson rebuilt House Mill in its present form, and 40 years later Clock Mill was added. The latter still has its clock turret and distinctive roofs above the drying floors. The grain was used to distil alcohol on site. Clock Mill operated until 1952 and is now part of London’s largest film and TV studios.
Info
Address Three Mills Island, E3 3DU | Public Transport Bromley-by-Bow (District, Hammersmith & City Line) | Hours House Mill May–Oct Sun 11am–4pm| Tip Waterside paths lead north to the Olympic site and the park that is being created on the river Lea, or south to the Thames. For routes see www.visitleevalley.org.uk.
In House Mill, possibly the world’s largest tidal mill, water wheels with a diameter of six metres drove 14 pairs of millstones in 1880. Production ceased in 1941, but the River Lea Tidal Mill Trust is restoring the remaining four wheels and machinery with the aim of generating electricity. Visitors can admire the wonderful brick architecture of the mill and adjacent miller’s house, home to a café and education centre, and follow the processes from delivery of grain by boat to sacks of flour ready for collection. This is an industrial monument of the first rank, with a history reaching back more than 900 years.
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