Cooks' Mill Watermill
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| Cooks' Mill was inspired by a RL visit to a working watermill, the Barony Mill in the parish of Birsay on Orkney. Like a lot of in-world projects, it was approached very much as a "I wonder if that's possible....?" sort of way. | |
 Cook's Mill in the Autumn with apples in the orchard |
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| First thing that needed to be investigated was whether I could make a convincing job of the mill machinery. This was the first "sketch" of the mill workings. I was determined to make an accurate model of the gear-train and workings of a watermill. Anything less would be pointless. |  |
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The result is a working model of a nineteenth century flour mill, with a redundant bakery on the ground floor providing ideal accommodating for the principal "Signature Brand" Recipe Shop. |
| The opposite end of the ground floor is occupied by the Pit. This is where the main drive from the external waterwheel comes into the building. |  |
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Each of the three floors of the mill has a specific purpose. This is the top, or Grain Floor of the mill. Grain is hauled up to this level to be dried, then fed into the bins at the far end of the floor. |
| On the floor below, the Stone Floor, grain from the bins is gravity fed into the hoppers, one for each pair of grindstones. The hoppers trickle feed grain into the stones to be ground into meal or flour. |  |
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Finally, the ground, or Meal Floor is where the meal or flour is sifted and collected into bins prior to weighing and packing. |
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You are welcome to visit the Mill any time. Make sure you have a good look round as there are items for sale throughout the building. You will find the Mill at this location: |
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