2016
TL5966 : Stevens' Mill, Burwell - wallower
taken 8 years ago, near to Burwell, Cambridgeshire, England
Stevens' Mill, Burwell - wallower
This is a tower mill with four patent sails and fantail winding. The tower is tarred brick and clunch and the mill was built in 1820 and worked until c1955.
This shows the wallower with the brake wheel beyond. The main vertical shaft is wooden with a metal dowel at the top that rotates in the small bearing seen below the red windshaft. The main weight of the shaft is taken on a footstep bearing at the bottom. The square pockets in the wall hold the nuts and bolts that anchor the curb on top of the tower. The chain bottom left is for the sack hoist and takes an unusual path - heading up at an angle and over a pulley before descending down the tower in the usual manner. Note the teeth in the brake wheel are wood bearing on iron. This produces quieter running and provides a 'sacrificial' link in the event of a problem - easier to replace a few wooden teeth that a fractured cast iron gear.
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