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Houghton Mill in Cambridgeshire revives traditional flour milling

Oct 16, 2024

A watermill has begun producing flour using methods dating back hundreds of years.

Houghton Mill, which dates to the 18th Century, is the last working watermill on the River Great Ouse near Huntingdon in Cambridgeshire.

It will use wheat grown at the Wimpole Estate 19 miles (30km) away.

However, the methods are not entirely traditional. When water levels are too low to power the waterwheel, a set of hydro-electrically powered millstones will be used.

Ayse Lambert, visitor experience officer at the mill, said: "The milling process is environmentally friendly. A traditional waterwheel enables the mill to produce stoneground flour."

Visitors to Houghton Mill can watch the flour being milled each Sunday, until 3 November.

National Trust said during the 18th Century there was a rapid development in mill technology and this marked the start of a very prosperous period for Houghton Mill.

Along this 70-mile (113km) stretch of the River Great Ouse there would potentially have been about 120 watermills.

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