Melin y bont

Cadw's description

Location

Located at the SW end of the village, set back from the SE side of the road passing through Bryn Du and alongside the Afon Drudwy.

History

Built in 1825. The corn mill was a unique combination of wind and water powered mill housed within the same structure. An vertical shaft enabled different pairs of millstones to be driven, by wind from above and water from below. The location of the mill, on a slope, meant it had 2 ground floors, the lower of which housed a 16ft (4.86mtrs) breastshot wheel; the gearing of the mill meant the sails turned in a clockwise direction, the only ones on Anglesey to do so. The ability to use water power gave the mill an advantage over others on the island and even after the sails were removed in 1930, the mill was still used for several years. The mill was gutted by fire in 1973; the wooden floors gave way and the mill's contents fell to the bottom of the tower, the shaft and waterwheel damaged in the process. Machinery still lies at the base of the tower, overgrown and derelict and the millpond which fed the waterwheel is now filled in and dry.

Anglesey was once the main grain-producing area of NW Wales, and the exposed nature of the landscape made it ideal for wind-powered corn mills (particularly when water supplies were unreliable). Construction of the mills flourished from early C18 to early C19, with over 40 operating on the island by 1835. After the Corn Laws were repealed in 1846 the market was flooded by cheaper imported grain, which combined with the availability of more convenient sources of power led to the demise of the windmill; by the end of the First World War only a handful were still operating. There are the visible remains of 31 windmill towers on the island, 6 of which have been converted to houses and only 18 remain as full towers; only 2 retain their original machinery and 1 has been restored to working order.

Exterior

Full height, 5-storey windmill tower; circular in plan, with slightly tapering walls of rubble masonry, partly rendered. Capped with corrugated iron. Doorways at ground floor and rectangular windows at stages above, with freestone surrounds.

Interior

Still contains some of the remains of the machinery, now damaged and lying at the base of the mill, derelict and overgrown.

Reason for designation

Listed as the only corn mill on the Anglesey to utilise both wind and water power, a unique combination which meant that the sails turned in the opposite direction to the other windmills on the island. Melin y bont is a substantially intact windmill tower, one of only 18 surviving on Anglesey, and one of only 2 to retain some original machinery, albeit badly damaged.