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Dotton is a small hamlet in east Devon, close to the river Otter. In the Domesday Book, compiled around 1086, there is a record of there having been a mill there, to the value of five shillings. The last working mill in the village closed down in 1946, however, and in 1968 the building was ordered to be demolished by the local council because the wheel pit was regarded as a danger to children.
Maps spanning the past couple of hundred years show a range of buildings on the site, and identify the site as Dotton Mill. From the 16th century onwards there is a range of documents that also refer to a mill.
In this programme Time Team's objective was to excavate the remains of the building that was knocked down 40 years ago and to try to find evidence of any earlier mill buildings in the vicinity. They had three days in which to do it.
Channel 4 is not responsible for the content of third-party sites.
The existence of maps, plans and photographs of the old mill at Dotton, many of which had been assembled as part of an A-level evening class project by local resident Laura Whittock, meant that Time Team did not have any problem in determining where to dig. Even so, John Gater and the geophysics team were keen to carry out a survey in advance of any digging. This was because they'd never done a survey of a mill site before and they wanted to record the results for future reference.
This done, Phil Harding was quick to get started on excavating the old wheel pit, the former gearing chamber and the living quarters. Mill historian Martin Watts (see Further reading) and industrial archaeologist Mike Nevell were on hand to offer guidance.
The excavations uncovered a number of metal reinforcing pieces, with portions of wood still attached, from the last waterwheel on the site. This would have been about three metres in diameter. A large metal section of the main gearing mechanism was also found, together with two large intact millstones.
The first of these to be uncovered was dated to the late 17th century by four distinctive curving, horn-like slots coming out from the centre. The second was a very poor quality millstone cut from red sandstone conglomerate. Martin Watts said it was the first he had come across in Devon and its poor quality showed the decline in the fortunes of the mill in its later years, in contrast to its relatively prosperous valuation of five shillings at the time of Domesday.
In the domestic quarters, a fine tile floor remained in situ, while pottery finds went back to the early 1600s. Most of what the excavation uncovered, however, related to the last building on the site, which was erected in the 18th century. The wheel pit structure contained early bricks and an even earlier stone wall at its base, beneath which was a piece of timber that may have been part of an earlier structure still.
But this was as far back as Time Team could get. Excavations along the line of the leat, or water channel, that diverted water from the nearby river to the mill, failed to find any earlier mill structures. So the mill mentioned in the Domesday Book was either obliterated by later building on the site or what is left of it lies buried even deeper than Time Team was able to go.
Ever since human beings turned to domesticating crops and farming from the Early Neolithic period onwards, wheat, and therefore bread, has been a staple part of our diet. Pre-historians will tell you about emmer wheat, a rough primitive form, which can be found conserved either by carbonisation, or revealed in tell-tale 'negative' impressions left in prehistoric pottery (caused by the wheat grains being included in the clay prior to firing and being burnt off in the kiln – leaving a grain impression). As crops developed we got the more reliable and productive varieties that we know today, but the essence of how to process the product has remained essentially unchanged.
In the Dotton programme, viewers saw Tony hand over the hard graft of grinding grain to produce flour to digger Matt Williams. Matt took getting on for two hours of hand grinding to make a small bag of flour – evidence of the great advantage to be had from the introduction of watermills, which can produce the same amount in about two minutes.
But why was it worthwhile for our ancestors to put so much effort into grinding grain for bread and other food products? And what exactly is the process involved?
Wheat grains contain a high level of energy, which is captured within their structure in the form of starch (a carbohydrate) and a variety of proteins. Wheat also contains vitamins, such as B and E, together with some valuable antioxidants. The benefits of eating all of the components of the 'whole grain' are often advertised by household breakfast cereal brands.
In order to get flour to make bread, biscuits and cakes, the grain needs to be crushed to extract the powdery endosperm (the flour part). The grinding process was originally done by crushing the grain on a flat stone with a second, hand-held stone. This developed over time into the familiar quern stones known to be in common use in Britain from at least the Iron Age.
There are two principal kinds of quern stones: the saddle quern and the rotary quern. The former is so named because it comes to look like a saddle as a result of the grinding motion of dragging the hand stone forwards and backwards across it. The rotary quern employs a circular grinding motion.
As with so many technological developments, the Romans introduced querns on a larger industrial scale. These were powered by everything from people (often slaves) and animals to water. The Normans, who fully appreciated the importance of the mill, even fortified some examples after their conquest of Britain.
The milling process involves a standing stone milling wheel. This supports the grain, which is slowly introduced through a hole in a revolving top stone. The friction between the two surfaces grinds the grain, which breaks the structure of the grain. The resulting meal, or coarsely ground material, is forced to the edge of the stones and deposited around the outside of the wheel for collection. Sieving to remove the components of the whole grain provides white flour, whereas leaving the untreated crushed meal in the mix produces fibre-packed brown flour.
Watched the programme, browsed the web pages? Now try our quick quiz to see how much you know about mills.
What word would you use to describe a person who studies mills, after the Latin 'molina', mill?
Milliner
Molliner
Molinologist
Who gave us the first surviving account of a geared waterwheel?
Pythagoras
Vitruvius
Homer
What is 'grist'?
Grain for grinding
Ground grain
Either of the above
When did the first cloth mills appear in England?
The 13th century
The 16th century
The 18th century
The miller is one of only eight pilgrims who are given a name in Chaucer's Canterbury Tales. What is it?
Geoffrey
Henry
Robyn
What is the name given to waterwheels where the water hits the wheel at roughly the level of the axle?
Undershot
Overshot
Breastshot
Answers here.
Channel 4 is not responsible for the content of third-party sites.
Watermills by Martin Watts (Shire Album, 2006) paperback £5.99
Water power has been used for over 2,000 years, initially for grinding grain and pumping water, and later for driving processing machinery for a wide variety of industries, which had a far-reaching effect on the economic and social development of Britain from the middle of the eighteenth century. In this new book, watermill expert Martin Watts, who featured in the Dotton Mill programme, explains the history and development of watermills as working buildings and the importance of the wider appreciation of the built environment and the use of natural sources of power.
Get this book
Water and Wind Power by Martin Watts (Shire, 2000) paperback £8.99
Watermills and windmills were the first engines. From Roman times water power was used to grind grain and raise water, and later to serve a great number of trades and industries that were vital to the social and economic development of Britain. This book is concerned not only with technology but also with some of the personalities who were involved.
Get this book
The Archaeology of Mills and Milling by Martin Watts (NPI Media Group, 2002) £16.99
In this multi-period study, Martin Watts traces the development of mills and milling from prehistory to the industrial age and explains how these changes reflect those of the society they served. Using archaeological evidence, documentary sources and above-ground remains, he emphasises the place of mills and milling in the historical landscape.
Get this book
The Story of Dotton: A hamlet lost in the passage of time by Harry Lane (Budleigh Salterton, 2004) 60p
A short history of Dotton, compiled by local historian Harry Lane.
Channel 4 is not responsible for the content of third-party sites.
Devon 24: Devon history
www.devon24.co.uk/flatfiles/history/dottonmill.aspx
Local newspaper group website with an article about Laura Whittock, whose evening-class A-level project on Dotton Mill helped to alert Time Team to the site. The article is accompanied by a short history of the mill.
UK Mills
http://ukmills.com/index.htm
This website, run by mill enthusiast David Ashton, contains a database covering more than 6,000 mills in the UK and including more than 600 photos. There is also a range of other information, articles and a forum.
Watermill links
www.windmillworld.com/watermills/
watermilllinks.htm
An extensive set of links to websites featuring material about watermills and wheels.
Waterwheels and mills
www.geocities.com/Athens/Forum/3807/
features/watermills.html
Summary of the development of waterwheels and mills since ancient times and the underlying mechanical principles. This website also contains an extensive bibliography on the subject.
For details of other archaeology websites, organised by both period and subject, see Archaeology websites.
What word would you use to describe a person who studies mills, after the Latin 'molina', mill?
Molinologist
Who gave us the first surviving account of a geared waterwheel?
Vitruvius
What is 'grist'?
Either of the above
When did the first cloth mills appear in England?
The 13th century
The miller is one of only eight pilgrims who are given a name in Chaucer's Canterbury Tales. What is it?
Robyn
What is the name given to waterwheels where the water hits the wheel at roughly the level of the axle?
Breastshot