Any comments, errors or omissions gratefully received The
Editor
©
F.Coakley , 2024
[From MM MS 06654 - added here as though some is copied from the referenced 1946 article it adds some history apparently drawn from personal knowledge]
[by Christopher Long dated Sept 1969]
As announced in the 'Manx Sun' for the 25th May 1850 the Glenfaba Mills of Peel would be ready for business by July of that year, with two French Burr stones, one for oats and the other for barley, also a shell barley stone fitted with the latest machinery for dressing.
It was built by the enterprising Cameron family who owned the surrounding farmland Ballaterson to the south of Peel. It is rumoured that it replaced an earlier mill built a century or so before, but no records substantiate this and it does not appear on a map surveyed by J. Foulkes in 1797. The new mill was managed by Henry Kermode "many years miller at Glenfaba, giving it up circa 1880", It was later milled by Thomas Faragher "miller of Glenmaye, afterwards of Glenfaba", to be followed by his son John Faragher when he died in 1918. Its machinery was always added to and improved. His son succeeded him, but gave up in the 1930's when the cost of severe flooding in the basement and a new roof proved too costly. His brother continued, and later his son, until work finally stopped some seven years ago. It was bought a few years later by its present owners.
The Glenfaba Mills are situated two kilometres south of Peel on the road to Patrick by a bend in the road where it crosse: the old railway line and the river Neb. From the south the river has passed across open flood plains to pass through a narrow gorge at Glenfaba. Here the river has cut through an arm of Peel Hill, and highland to the east. On the hillside the banks are of slate, whilst on the other they are of the charac- teristic red sandstone of Peele The river follows the line between these two rocks. The river also marks the parish boundary of German to the east, in which the mills are situated, and Patrick to the Hill side. Indeed, the parish boundary passing through the middle of the river, made the two parish councils then responsible for the condition of their own roads, build only half of the road bridge each. A line down the centre of the arch marke two types of constructions
* Neither is the mill shown on the Drinkwater map of 1826 which is in the Manx Museum.
Having collected water from the mountains either side of the valley the river Neb flows quickly here, and there is a sufficient fall of water for a good sized wheel. The Mills are equidistant from Peel and Patrick and once served both these places and the surrounding areas The spot is regarded by many to be one of the most attractive on the island.
The mill was built around the machinery required to process the grain and the supply of suitable gears to drive the stones. These were made in local foundries such as Gelling's Foundry in Douglas, which still has the many wooden patterns which formed moulds when pressed into sand, into which the iron was poured. When necessary they have been replaced by the same foundry. Compared with steel, iron corrodes little, and today is still in good condition in spite of a very salty atmosphere. Around the machinery the miller would have instructed a local mason to build walls. He used the local blue-slate stone quarried a kilometre to the south at the Creggans, and local slate for the roof. Special wood would have been imported from Scandinavia for the water-wheel buckets, and extra thick timbers for the hurst. All the shutes and hoppers were made by local craftsmen and today are still in good condition. Evidence of many alterations are to be seen, for example, the heightening of walls above the threshing area for more storage, the addition of numerous outhouses, the blocking in of windows, and the re-building of the kiln. The latter was done in the 1930's when the original stone walls bulged so much that there was a danger of gaps forming between the tiles which were used for roasting the oats, and of the men falling into the furnace below) The top was re-built in brick, losing its four angled roof to the detriment of the building.
The Glenfaba water-wheel is a 5½ metre diameter breast-shot wheel with over a 2½ metre head, the water being taken from the river Neb through a run nearly 2 kilometres upstream,
The power transmission here is out of the ordinary as it consists in the first place of a 3 o'clock spur pinion driven from a spur wheel on the water-wheel. This drives at a ratio of 1 : 5; the water-wheel rotates at some six revolutions per minute and the spur pinion at about 30 revolutions a minute. The horizontal shaft runs almost the length of the floor bearing five bevel crown wheels meshing with five bevel pinions which slide on the stone shafts both for 'setting', and putting the stone drives in and out of gear. The four stones are driven from these vertical shafts, the fifth - the centre pinion - drives high-speed machinery by means of belts on the ground and floor above.
The threshing machine is driven by the water, as also is the dynamo which generates about 4 kilowatt, providing light as well as power for battery charging.
All grain entering was immediately hoisted to the top floor where it was stored. From here it began its journey down the mill through the appropriate machines to the basement. For example, oats would be shovelled down a shute from the top floor into the kiln room. Here they would be roasted on cast- iron tiles. These let heat and smoke through countless holes from the coke fires below. This was a hot, dirty and unpleasant task, not without danger. Occasionally the whole floor caught alight, flames leaping out of the windows because the oats had not been turned over in times When dried the oats were shovelled down into a silo which held a day's supply. From the silo a shute led to sacks in the basement. These were hoisted up to the top floor once again. There they were emptied down hoppers into the silos above the appropriate stone. These silos would hold eight sacks of grain in reserve in order to keep the stones supplied for a couple of hours. Thus, the miller did not need to top up the hoppers as frequently as in other mills such as Kentraugh.
The grain would pass through a movable bucket at a constant rate into a hole in the centre of the top grinding stone, passing between this and the smaller nether stone. Cuts in both these stones would grind the grain, carrying it out to their peripheries and from there via a shute to the basement. Finally it would be hoisted to the top floor for storage.
The mill dealt with barley meal, pearl barley, rye meal, groats and wheat in a similar way.
Some 6 metres from the mill stands a four-storey warehouse for storage. A hoist within this was driven by a chain from the main mill hoist, passing under a covered way from one building to the other. One sack tackle was available to both buildings, with control from either.
By law, only those mills licensed by the Lord of the Manor and paying his dues, were allowed to function. Every landowner was assigned and said to be tenant to a particuler mill and he could not legally have his corn ground elsewhere, though sometimes influential farmers found a way to escape this restriction.
The anxiety shown by the Lord's officers and millers in seeing that the tenant attached to a mill should bring their own grain to it arose from the fact that the miller received one twenty-fourth of the grind for his services. The miller's 'foilliu' or mulcture was an enduring object of the farmers' suspicions. Yearly, every miller took an oath to deal justly with his customers, but this act did not banish doubts bred by long tradition attributing shady practices to him. Indeed, a number of cases in the records suggest that there was sometimes reason for suspicion.
In 1723 the miller of Ballasalla was punished for taking one sixteenth of the grind as his perquisite - 50% more than the legal amount - and he was also punished for doing bad grinding which produced 'groblagh' or lumpy half-ground meal. The evidence in this and other cases makes it clear that people bringing corn to the mills generally looked after the grinding themselves after the miller had set the millstone to what was called the right turn. The amounts of corn brought by the least prosperous of the country people were often of small bulk, corresponding to the daily grinding done on the quern or handmill, and were symptomatic of an impoverished countryside visited from time to time with stark famine.
The mills were scarcely ever adequate to the demands thrust upon them and much hardship was thus caused to the country people who were entirely dependent upon the flour made from their own grain. When the position became unbearable, permission is usually given to a tenant to take his corn to another mill able to handle it.
The millers had always to face the illegal competition of the quern or 'myllin-laue', a pre-historic survival, which in the 17th Contury was still to be found in nearly every country house. Severe measures were taken from time to time to limit or stop its use.
The country people were bound by law to perform various services relating to the mill assigned to them for grinding. They were called on to repair the mill, clean out the mill stream and dam, and to carry new millstones. In 1697 the owners of Ballaquayle and Ballakermeen, now part of Douglas, were 'tenants' on Tromode Mill. They sent sledges to repair the mill race, provided straw rope for thatching the mill roof and helped to transport new grinding stones from Douglas harbour.
The duty of keeping the mills in repair was not viewed with enthusiasm by the farmer and when long pericds elapsed between repairs they were tempted to disclaim responsibility and the Great Enquest was called in to settle the dispute.
In 1669 the Lhen Mooar Mill made call on the inhabitants of Kirk Andreas to assist in the transportation of a new stone from the port of Ramsey. Only 22 people gave help, 112 refused on the plea that they were not tenants of the mill, or that it was not a custom, and they were fined.
An Enquest found that all the normal obligations save one - the cleansing of the mill race - had been established. In the matter of proving who were the tenants attached to the mill the conduct of the parishoners revealed the determination of the objectors and their care for the due observance of old rules. When the three partners in the mill were about to give evidence as to the names of the customary tenants and put their hands on ss he book to swear, the parishoners present stepped forward and took the partners hands off the book, and demanded that the ancient tenants to the mill should be proved by lawful witnesses and not by the mill owners themselves.
The mill buildings are well audited to their purpose. The facade is regulated by a series of three windows on each floor on either side. Apart from lighting the inside, these do not affect what goes on in the interior and are often hidden by machines, silos and staircases. Within the four walls all the machinery is allowed to function under cover from the rain.
The length of the mill was determined by the drive shaft and diameter of the stones. The width was arbitrary, or perhaps the length of a number of machines assembled together. Over and above this the rooms were free to expand over the years. Pulleys and belts were added here and everywhere to drive more and varied machines. The miller and his engineer showed the utmost ingenuity in the running of the mill.
Indeed, looking at the evolution of such water mills - at its height here - it is difficult to imagine how each machine was inter-related, except by detailed observation and instruction. Using cast iron machinery, the millers carried the ancient water wheel into the industrial age. Eventually they had to give up because of the attractions of easier work elsewhere, and because of severe competition from completely industrialised flour mills.
Today the mills are derelict. Most of the original machinery is still intact, in contrast to many other mills in the Island which are stone shells or have been electrified. These mills, probably the largest on the Island, should be preserved. The cost of repair is too great for the present owners. It has been estimated that it would cost £5,000 to repair the water wheel alone with the correct wood. A grant is required from the Manx Government or from the Manx Museum. The mill race would then be dug up, water made to flow again, the water wheel to collect water and the stones to move. This should be be done for commercial use or as a museum of milling. Unless prompt action is taken the machines will decay in disuse and there will be little chance of survival for such an excellent example of 19th Century engineering.
1. 'Manx Water Mills' by David H. Jones Manx Museum Journal 1966, pp. 11-16
2. 'Mills' published by the Manx Archaelogical and Antiquarian Society
3. Wood's Gazetteer of the Isle of Man Parish of German, Manuscript Map No.177
Ballaterson Farm
4. Mr. Goodwin's Journals, "Faragher" p. 12,
5. Mr. Goodwin's Journals, "Kermode" p. 59
6. From the 'Miller', lst April 1946 - first published in Power Transmission'
Manx Museum library, Manufacturers & Trades vol. B.240 IX p. 128
7. Manannan's Isle by D. Craine, 1955 p. 163
The Isle of Man Railway by J.I.C. Boyd 1967 p. 8 - Peel railway opened 1873
:
The Isle of Man by S.P.B. Mais p. 133 - Glenfaba Bridge
The Little Mill, Kentraugh, I.O.M. R.M. Nuttal 1969 booklet
The Manx Society, Vol. VI - Feltham's Tour in 1797/8 F 64 No. 788 - horizontal
mills
The Manx Society, Vol. XXXI pe 226 - use of querns
The Manx Society, Vol. XXI p. 210 - Manx Weights and Measures
The Lady Isabella Waterwheel by Anders Jespersen 1954
British Water Mills by L. Syson 1964
|
|
||
|
|
|
Water powered Mills etc |
|
|
||
|
Any comments, errors or omissions gratefully received The
Editor |
||