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List of early medieval watermills

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This list of early medieval watermills comprises a selection of European watermills spanning the early Middle Ages, from 500 to 1000 AD.

Historical overview

Largely unaffected from the turbulent political events following the demise of the Western Roman Empire, the importance of watermilling continued to grow under the new Germanic lords. The sharp rise in numbers of early medieval watermills coincided with the appearance of new documentary genres (legal codes, monastic charters, hagiography) which were more inclined to address such a relatively mundane device than the ancient urban-centered literary class had been. This partly explains the relative abundance of medieval literary references to watermills compared to former times.

The quantitative growth of medieval evidence appears to be more than a mere reflection of the changing nature of surviving sources. By Carolingian times, references to watermills in the Frankish Realm had become "innumerable". At the time of the compilation of the Domesday Book (1086), there were an estimated 6,500 watermills in England alone.

By the early 7th century, watermills were well established in Ireland, and began to spread from the former territory of the empire into the non-romanized parts of Germany a century later. The introduction of the ship mill and tide mill in the 6th century, both of which yet unattested for the ancient period, allowed for a flexible response to the changing water-level of rivers and the Atlantic Ocean, thus demonstrating the technological innovativeness of early medieval watermillers.

Earliest evidence

Below the earliest medieval evidence for different types of watermills. This list complements its ancient counterpart.

DateWater-powered mill typesFind spot (or reference)Location
537Wikander2000pp=383f.}}Procop V (=Goth. I), 19.19–22Rome
6th centurySawmill; crank and connecting rod system without gear trainGerasa and EphesusJordan and Turkey
6th centuryVertical-wheeled tide millKilloteran near WaterfordIreland
c. 630Horizontal-wheeled tide millLittle Island IIreland
c. 636Horizontal-wheeled mill (Norse or Greek mill)Archaeology has unearthed in recent years increasingly more evidence for the existence of this wheel-type in the imperial Roman period.BallykilleenIreland

Written sources

In the following, literary, epigraphical and documentary sources referring to watermills and other water-driven machines are listed.

ReferenceLocationDateType of evidenceComments on
Annals of Ulster650Annal
Benedict of Nursia, Regula 66.6–7529/547Possible watermill
Caesarius of Arles, Sermones, VIII, 4Early 6th century
Wikander2000p=400, fn. 123}}510/511
Charter of king Childebert IParis556CharterShip mill
Charter of king Dagobert IITrier646Charter
Charter of king Ethelbert of Kent762Charter
Wikander2014p=212}}Wang-Thulbach754CharterPossible watermill
ChartersLorsch Abbey760s onwardsCharter
Edictus Rothari 149–151643Legal code
Gregorius Turonensis, Historia Francorum III, 19Dijonc. 575HistoriographyShip mill
Gregorius Turonensis, Vitae Patrum, XVIII, 2484/507Hagiography
Lex Alamannorum, 79–80717/719Legal code
Lex Baivariorum, IX, 2Probably 725/728Legal code
Lex Visigothorum, VII, 2.12 and VIII, 4.30568/586Legal code
Marius Aventicius, ChronicaGeneva563AnnalShip mill
"Muliheim"Near Niederalteich731CharterLikely watermill site
Nomos georgikós 81–82Late 7th centuryLegal code
Wikander1985p=168, fn. 14}}Early 7th centuryLegal code
Pactus legis Salicae, Recensio Guntchramna, X, 6; XII, 1–3; XXXI, 3567/596Legal code
Procop V (=Goth. I), 19.19–22Rome537HistoriographyShip mills
Wikander2000p=400, fn. 124}}c. 600Legal code
Wikander1985p=169, fn. 42}}c. 600
Vita Haimhrammi, 37Thuringiac. 770HagiographyWatermill (?) machinery
Vita Leobae, 12c. 740Hagiography
Vita S. Orienti, II, 3c. 380/420?Hagiography
Vita Sturmi, 20Fuldac. 765HagiographyMill-channel
Wikander1985p=168, fn. 18}}c. 650Hagiography
Vita S. Remigi episcopi Remensis, 17486/511Hagiography

Archaeological finds

Watermill sites

Below are listed excavated or surveyed watermill sites dated to the early medieval period.

SiteCountryDateIdentification/Remains
EbbsfleetEnglandEarly 8th centuryHorizontal-wheeled tide mill
Old Windsor IEnglandProbably late 7th centuryMill-channel, woodwork of three vertical water-wheels
Old Windsor IIEngland9th or 10th centuryMill-channel, horizontal-wheeled mill
Raunds, West CottonEnglandLate SaxonLeat, sluice gate, chute, stake and wattle lined and stone surfaced wheel-pit
TamworthEnglandBetween 846 and 864Entire establishment
DasingGermany696/697Vertical-wheeled undershot or breastshot mill, mill-pond, mill-race, fragments of mill-stones
BallykilleenIrelandc. 636Horizontal-wheeled mill
CloontycarthyIrelandc. 833Entire establishment
DrumardIrelandc. 782Horizontal-wheeled mill
Killoteran near WaterfordIreland6th centuryVertical-wheeled tide mill
Little Island IIrelandc. 630Horizontal-wheeled tide mill
Little Island IIIreland7th centuryVertical-wheeled tide mill
MorettIrelandc. 710Vertical-wheeled undershot mill
GerasaJordan6th centurySawmill; crank and connecting rod system without gear train
Nendrum Monastery millNorthern Ireland619 & 789Horizontal-wheeled tide mill
EphesusTurkey6th centurySawmill; crank and connecting rod system without gear train; multiple mill complex with at least five watermills

Millstones

The following list comprises stray finds of early medieval millstones. Note that there is no way to distinguish millstones driven by water-power from those powered by animals turning a capstan. Most, however, are assumed to derive from watermills.

SiteCountryDate (or find context)Remains
StroudEnglandProbably Anglo-SaxonMill-paddles from horizontal wheel
Wikander1985p=165}}Ireland9th centuryHorizontal paddle-wheel, hub and shaft, complete with pebble bearing

References

Notes

Sources

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  • {{Citation | editor-last = Squatriti | editor-first = Paolo
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  • {{Citation | author-link = Örjan Wikander
  • {{Citation | editor-last = Wikander | editor-first = Örjan
  • {{Citation | editor1-last = Karlsson | editor1-first = Lars | editor2-last = Carlsson | editor2-first = Susanne | editor3-last = Kullberg | editor3-first = Jesper
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References

  1. {{harvnb. Wilson. 2002
  2. {{harvnb. Wikander. 2000
  3. {{harvnb. Holt. 1988
  4. {{harvnb. Wikander. 2000
  5. {{harvnb. Wikander. 2000
  6. {{harvnb. Wikander. 2000
  7. {{harvnb. Wilson. 2002. Ritti. Grewe. Kessener. 2007. Kessener. 2010; {{harvnb. Mangartz. 2010
  8. {{harvnb. Murphy. 2005
  9. {{harvnb. Wikander. 1985
  10. {{harnvb. Rynne. 2000
  11. {{harvnb. Wikander. 2000
  12. {{harvnb. Wikander. 2000
  13. {{harvnb. Wikander. 2000
  14. {{harvnb. Wikander. 1985
  15. {{harvnb. Wikander. 2014
  16. {{harvnb. Wikander. 2014
  17. {{harvnb. Wikander. 1985
  18. {{harvnb. Wikander. 2000
  19. {{harvnb. Wikander. 2000
  20. {{harvnb. Wikander. 1985
  21. {{harvnb. Wikander. 2014
  22. {{harvnb. Wikander. 1985
  23. {{harvnb. Wikander. 2014
  24. {{harvnb. Wikander. 1985
  25. {{harvnb. Watts. 2006
  26. Windell, Chapman and Woodiwiss. (1990). "From Barrows to Bypass, Excavations at West Cotton Raunds Northamptonshire 1985-1989". Northamptonshire County Council.
  27. {{harvnb. Czysz. 1994
  28. {{harvnb. Wilson. 2002. Ritti. Grewe. Kessener. 2007. Kessener. 2010
  29. {{harvnb. McErlean. Crothers. 2007
  30. {{harvnb. Ritti. Grewe. Kessener. 2007. Mangartz. 2010; {{harvnb. Kessener. 2010
  31. {{harvnb. Wikander. 2000
  32. {{harvnb. Wikander. 1985
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