INSIDE Stevens’ Mill

1. INSIDE Stevens’ Mill This resource has been designed for use in classrooms. Use it to: Answer pre/post-visit questions Find out how a windmill works Tell the story of the mill and its owners Play the ‘land to hand’ picture game Write your own windmill poem windmill Step in inside Burwell the last

2. Stevens’ Mill FACT FILE How old is it? Steven's Mill was built in the 1820s. In 2014 it was over 190 years old. It's the last of 4 mills that worked in Burwell but there are many more around Britain. This mill is now open to visitors but up until 1955 it was used to grind grain into flour and make animal feed from cereals and pulses. There are three types of Mill – POST MILLS, TOWER MILLS and SMOCK MILLS. Stevens’ Mill is a TOWER MILL. Are there different kinds of windmill? What’s it built from? It's built from CLUNCH, a local chalky stone. It's also been painted with black tar to keep the mill weatherproof because clunch crumbles when wet.

3. Stevens’ Mill FACT FILE How many sails does it have? It has four sails called PATENT SAILS. They use wind power to turn. They also have SHUTTERS that the miller can control from the bottom floor of the mill. He can open and close the shutters to make the sails turn faster or slower. Why are there sails at the back too? That’s the FANTAIL. It catches the wind and turns the CAP on the top of the windmill to help the sails keep turning at all times. Are there more windmills in this area? Yes there are. You can see other flour-making windmills near Burwell but some mills are used to raise water. There are lots of these WIND or DRAINAGE PUMPS in this area because the land was once flooded. The draining of the FENS began in the 17th Century, led by a Dutch engineer called Nicholas Vermuyden.

4. INSIDE Stevens’ Mill FANTAIL CAP WIND SHAFT BRAKE WHEEL WALLOWER 3RD – DUST FLOOR UPRIGHT SHAFT SAILS SACK HOIST 2ND – BIN FLOOR GRAIN BINS 1ST – STONE FLOOR HOPPER MILLSTONES GREAT SPUR WHEEL GOVERNORS GROUND – MEAL FLOOR A downloadable A-Z glossary can be found on the learning pages at www.burwellmuseum.org.uk

5. Featuring illustrations by Year 1 students from Burwell Village College and artist Jonny Boatfield www.jonnyboatfield.com How does Stevens’ Mill work? He climbs the ladders and uses the sack hoist to carry the sack of grain to the top of the mill. The miller climbs back down to operate the mill and control the speed of the sails and mill stones from the ground floor. The miller empties the grain into the first chute. Gravity helps it down. The cap turns to make the sails face the wind. The miller checks the windmill is ready. Wind blows and catches the fantail. A customer bring a sack of grain to the mill. The grain travels into a hopper which shakes the grain into the ‘eye’ hole of the millstones on the first or ‘stone’ floor. The flour travels in a chute into a sack on the ground or ‘meal’ floor. The miller weighs the sack on large weighing scales and giving it to the customer. Two sandwiched stones (the bed and runner stones) grind the grain into flour.

6. The Stevens’ Mill STORY The mill was built around 1820 for wealthy local miller Oliver Carter, a stout man who wore a white hat and brought grist to his mill in a yellow cart with red shafts and wheels. The 1941 census records him living in North St, Burwell with his wife Sarah and four children. For around 100 years the mill ground flour for local farmers and villagers but production ceased around World War One, when the mill was used to grind cereals and pulses for animal feed. Memorial stone for George Mason at St Mary’s Church, Burwell The Mill in 1890 In 1862 Stevens’ Mill suffered serious damage in a gale, as reported in the Cambridge Independent Press on 25th October: BURWELL: This village was visited by a perfect hurricane on Sunday last … The cap, sails and everything level with the brickwork of the tower-mill, belonging to Mr Oliver Carter was blown off, which is a serious calamity to him, as the damage may be estimated at from £150 to £200. In 1884 the Mill was bought by its tenant George Mason of North Street, Burwell.   George was born in the village in 1858, and by the time of the 1881 census was already a miller and farmer of 19 acres employing two men.

7. The Stevens’ Mill STORY In 1951 the mill became Grade II listed and four years later, when Warren Stevens retired, the mill ceased production. In 1969 the mill was rescued from dereliction by the Burwell Museum Trust. Reconstruction and restorations has taken place almost continuously over the last 40 years. The mill has a team of skilled and hard-working volunteers who come every week to maintain it. From the 1920s to 1950s the mill was owned and operated by brothers Alfred and Warren Stevens and became known as Steven's Mill. They also built brick outbuildings and timber sheds to the south and east of the mill. Returning the restored cap to the mill in 2013 A plaque commemorating the 2013/14 Heritage Lottery Grant to restore the mill. Stevens’ Mill in 1931. Alfred Stevens at the mill door in 1950.

8. Can you find put the pictures in the right order to get the bread from the farm to your fork? ‘Land to Hand’ PICTURE GAME B. C. A. At the BAKERY Owen Warren’s GROCERY DELIVERY BIKE A seed FIDDLE DRILL E. F. D. HAND PLOUGH for small farms MILLSTONES grind the grain GRAIN dropped off for MILLING

9. ‘Land to Hand’ PICTURE GAME ANSWERS E. B. F. C. D. A. There are five different LAND TO HAND TRAILS available to enjoy during a visit to the museum. Pick yours up at the Summerhouse.

10. BE INSPIRED by Stevens’ Mill millstone sack hoist sails wind ladder blow gravity Read or recite this famous windmill poem. Can you write your own windmill poem? Use words from the windmill word list on the right to help you. From: rotate grain miller creak Blow wind blow! And go mill go! That the miller may grind his corn, That the baker may take it, And into bread make it, And send us some hot in the morn. Nursery Rhymes of England by James Orchard Halliwell tower weigh hopper machine cap farmer grind Burwell power bread shudder ground