List of early medieval watermills

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.

Date Water-powered mill types Find spot (or reference) Location537Ship millProcop V (=Goth. I), 19.19–22 Rome6th centurySawmill; crank and connecting rod system without gear train ; ; ; Gerasa and Ephesus Jordan and Turkey6th centuryVertical-wheeled tide mill Killoteran near Waterford Irelandc. 630Horizontal-wheeled tide millLittle Island I Ireland 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. Ballykilleen Ireland

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

Reference Location Date Type of evidence Comments onAnnals of Ulster 650Annal Benedict of Nursia, Regula 66.6–7 529/547 Possible watermillCaesarius of Arles, Sermones, VIII, 4 Early 6th century Cassiodorus, Variae III, 31.2 510/511 Charter of king Childebert I Paris556 Charter Ship millCharter of king Dagobert IITrier646 Charter Charter of king Ethelbert of Kent 762 Charter Charter Wang-Thulbach754CharterPossible watermillCharters Lorsch Abbey760s onwardsCharterEdictus Rothari 149–151 643 Legal code Gregorius Turonensis, Historia Francorum III, 19 Dijonc. 575 Historiography Ship millGregorius Turonensis, Vitae Patrum, XVIII, 2 484/507 Hagiography Lex Alamannorum, 79–80 717/719 Legal code Lex Baivariorum, IX, 2 Probably 725/728 Legal code Lex Visigothorum, VII, 2.12 and VIII, 4.30 568/586Legal code Marius Aventicius, Chronica Geneva563Annal Ship mill"Muliheim" Near Niederalteich731CharterLikely watermill siteNomos georgikós 81–82 Late 7th century Legal code Pactus Alamannorum, V, 14 Early 7th century Legal code Pactus legis Salicae, Recensio Guntchramna, X, 6; XII, 1–3; XXXI, 3 567/596 Legal code Procop V (=Goth. I), 19.19–22 Rome537 Historiography Ship mills Senchus Mòr, De ceithri slichtaib Athgabála c. 600 Legal code Venantius Fortunatus, Carmina, III, 12, 37–8 c. 600 Vita Haimhrammi, 37 Thuringiac. 770HagiographyWatermill (?) machineryVita Leobae, 12 c. 740 Hagiography Vita S. Orienti, II, 3 c. 380/420? Hagiography Vita Sturmi, 20 Fuldac. 765HagiographyMill-channelVita S. Brigidae virginis, cols. 787–8 Migne c. 650 Hagiography Vita S. Remigi episcopi Remensis, 17 486/511 Hagiography

Archaeological finds

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

Site Country Date Identification/RemainsEbbsfleetEnglandEarly 8th centuryHorizontal-wheeled tide millOld Windsor I England Probably late 7th century Mill-channel, woodwork of three vertical water-wheels Old Windsor II England 9th or 10th centuryMill-channel, horizontal-wheeled millRaunds, West Cotton EnglandLate SaxonLeat, sluice gate, chute, stake and wattle lined and stone surfaced wheel-pitTamworthEngland Between 846 and 864 Entire establishmentDasingGermany 696/697 Vertical-wheeled undershot or breastshot mill, mill-pond, mill-race, fragments of mill-stonesBallykilleen Ireland c. 636 Horizontal-wheeled millCloontycarthy Ireland c. 833 Entire establishmentDrumard Ireland c. 782Horizontal-wheeled millKilloteran near WaterfordIreland6th centuryVertical-wheeled tide millLittle Island I Ireland c. 630 Horizontal-wheeled tide mill Little Island II Ireland 7th century Vertical-wheeled tide mill Morett Ireland c. 710 Vertical-wheeled undershot millGerasa; ; Jordan6th centurySawmill; crank and connecting rod system without gear trainNendrum Monastery millNorthern Ireland619 & 789Horizontal-wheeled tide millEphesus; ; Turkey6th 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.

Site Country Date (or find context) RemainsStroud England Probably Anglo-SaxonMill-paddles from horizontal wheelMoycraigIreland 9th centuryHorizontal paddle-wheel, hub and shaft, complete with pebble bearing

References

Notes

Sources

List of early medieval watermills

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