The next mill the group
visited was
Rhydlydan
Mill,
(SO0583593174),
stands by the B4568 Newtown - Llanwnog Road.
It is a detached building, not now
associated with the nearby house and farm
buildings.
The mill building is mainly
of stone, with brick used at the corners and
around openings. It has four storeys
(including the attic) but nearly all of the
second floor is occupied by bins. The kiln
is attached to one end of the building, with
access from the mill on both floors.
A stable was built against
the end of the mill but is derelict. The
mill is in poor condition mainly from a
defective roof and previously timber clad
gables. One part of the kiln has collapsed
due to being undermined by badgers.
A previous owner excavated
the bank behind the mill and destroyed the
mill pond The mill has a new owner who is
preparing to start a renovation programme.
The large overshot waterwheel
is placed within the building, and drove
three pairs of stones by spurwheel gear.
This plant is most unusual,
in that the stones are overdriven and most
carry a double row of staggered cogs. The
smaller machines were driven by two pinions
engaging the spurwheel, and one engaging a
bevel tooth ring on the spurwheel arms.
Apart from the waterwheel and
the pitwheel, nearly all the plant is
wooden. There are two flour dressers; being
a wire machine and a bolter. The oatmeal
machine was an open-fan type, under the meal
bin. A late 19th century American smutter
stands on the first floor, but not in its
working position. The slack-belt sack hoist
is in the attic and has the local
‘latch-off’ mechanism, as at Pontdolgoch.
![](Mills%20Research%20Group%20Conf%203.png)
Rhydlydan Mill
The kiln is a ‘funnel’ type,
with a central brick stove about 4' high
with a castellated top capped with stone to
provide four openings one on each face at
the top for the smoke to escape within the
funnel. Apart from the high quality of
structure and millwork, this mill is most
interesting as an
example of the adaption of a ‘foreign’
tradition to local conditions. All its main
design features derive from another region.
The internal waterwheel, the great headroom
on all floors, the very well- developed bin
floor - all this would be commonplace in
East Anglia, or Kent, but quite out of place
in Mid Wales. Even the overdrive is not
unknown in eastern England, but elsewhere it
is very rare. Each pair of stones has a
loading platform by its hopper, with a
ladder to it, for grinding small parcels of
grain.
See
www.milldrawings.com/html/rhydlydan.html