Muncaster Mill

There is documentary evidence of there being a mill at Muncaster going back to 1455, fed from a weir on the river Mite over a mile up the river. Rather than have a “top pond” the water is stored in the long leat which feeds a simple overshot water wheel powering 3 sets of stones, although in recent times only the left set of stones was used for flour.

The derelect mill was purchased in the 1970s by Lake District Estates – the parent company of the Ravenglass & Eskdale Railway – to be restored as a track side attraction. The millers (who leased it) then supplied organic stoneground flour (assorted wholemeal, white, brown, semolina and bran) and provided tours of the mill. It also featured in the Thomas the Tank Engine book (see illustration below).

Thanks go to Dave Priestley, son of Ernie the last miller (pictured below), for the notes and the photos. They were taken in the late 1990s at low resolution and relatively small image size.