Milling Around Daniel's Mill

This serene scene is Daniel's Mill very near Bridgnorth.  Yes, in the county of Shropshire again, I do so love it there!  This visit was in the summer of 2015.

This is what you will see entering this history filled place.  Your eyes will be filled with substance, as will your tummy.  Your may hear a train making it's way by.  A sensation for all the senses!

The overpass is for Severn Valley Railroad.  

There are spinning mills grinding wheat and some just for giggles.

The mill has a couple of other names through out the years, Donynges Mill, Dunnings Mill, or Dunnells Mill before it was finally known as Daniel's Mill by 1880.

The tour is set in motion by the starting of the wheel.  

 

 They take grinding stones seriously here, this one is immoralised as a pavement stone. 

 The tour guide will lead you to the basement and show you the real nitty gritty of grinding wheat.  We had a tour by a living Thomason.  He was very knowledgable of his family's history.  He will proudly tell you about the mill: 

"Daniels Mill Bridgnorth is the largest waterwheel powering a corn mill still working in England today."

"Virtually unaltered since the 18th Century and still in the ownership of the same family for over 250 years."

 The working stone, encased for one can only imagine a bit of safety.

A grand window to see the outside works.

More grinding stones and tools.

A big vat of ground Shropshire wheat flour!

There was a substantial flood that really had an impact on this site, all this history is well told on the tour.  The flood in 2007 made cause for a restoration that would take about a year to complete.

Gears are important here, as well.  The tour guide demonstrates the heavy work by getting a volunteer to lift different items involved.

Back outside there are trails to ruins of other mills.  The trails are beautiful and relaxing on their own, taking in some natural surroundings.  If I'm not mistaken you can make your way to the town of  Bridgnorth by foot from here.

Clover Mill

Severn Valley Railway chugging by....A subject of another blog to be.

To finish our trip we fill our senses yet again by having a cream tea.  The scones made on site by another Thomason.  The flour ground on site of Shropshire wheat.  It is a real treat to picnic right by the wheel!

 

I bought a sack to take home.   

Too current  Two Currant Wholemeal Muffins.

 A few views of Shropshire wheat.

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The official website of Daniel's Mill for all the particulars of a visit.

About Bridgnorth



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Moreton Corbet

This travel blog will quite often feature ruins (many times in Britain), If you love Britain and Shropshire, this is the place for you.  At these places I'm like a Britphile straight from the camera shop....My camera clicks away.

Exploring ruins is an adventure in itself, as they punch a hole into the past.  Many of the windows into previous times are different and illuminating in their own way and often within the same site.

This blog will feature many other travels, as well, from the past and in the future.  The posts will also be about different states in the USA (sometimes highlighting different areas within a particular state), Mexico, France, Caribbean, and wherever I go next!  My Tardis pen will write about blasts from the past.  Some archived posts will be imported and may, or may not be embellished.

 I'm ruined by travel...Buckle up for the first time warp!




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This first entry is the most recent visit to a ruins and is called Moreton Corbet, in Shropshire.  The visit here was in very early spring 2016.

The drive had plenty of the quaint, but sometimes thrilling narrow hedgerow roads.

Some of them more narrow than the one pictured below.  When the hedgerows open up there is a wide view of what is a farming area.  Neatly plowed rows, rapeseed fields, rainy puddles, small irrigation streams to ford, pheasants crossing your path...You know, Sunday drive stuff, when you have all the time in the world to enjoy it.

One of the first things you will notice is the helicopters, one by one landing and taking off from RAF Shawbury at a regular tempo as they fly over Moreton Corbet.  This didn't detract from the surroundings, in fact it seemed strangely comforting while thinking about the tumultuous past of this site.  Battles fought here and ghostly sightings are just some of the stories waiting to be explored. 

Moreton Corbet has a sort of divided past, in more ways than one.  It once had an existence as Castle at Moreton Toret.   Built of timber by Bartholomew Toret. It was stormed on behalf of King John with remaining marks on the some of the walls to this day. During the civil war it was a Royalist stronghold. Eventually, it was passed by marriage to the Corbets who rebuilt it of stone and fashioning the Elizabethan manor section.

Some of the design is of Italian influence and ornate in it's own right.

Many of the designs are important and symbolic to the Corbet family.

Here we have a Chimera on the Western corner of the manor.

Chi·me·ra

also Chi·mae·ra  (kī-mîr′ə, kĭ-)

n.

1. Greek Mythology A fire-breathing female monster usually represented as a composite of a lion, goat, and serpent.

2. An imaginary monster made up of grotesquely disparate parts.

On the other corner (East) of the manor we see a Wyvern.

wy·vern

also wi·vern  (wī′vərn)

n. Heraldry

A two-legged dragon having wings and a barbed tail.

 

Some "interior" views:

Right next door and within good view is St. Bartholomew church.  The Corbets are laid to final rest here.  It is worth a stroll around the church, there is a section of military graves and a memorial to those who were lose in both world wars.  It is just evocative of the the whole area.

This will have to be a cliffhanger, I didn't explore inside the church.  I have hopes to look inside next time.  I just have to collect pictures of the grand stained glass promised inside, if nothing else.

On the way to home, we had a thirst on us!  We stopped at The Tiddly.

Not far from Moreton Corbet is this little hidden gem and it is a Real Ale pub.  They have guest ciders, a list of 3 choices on the day, plus the regular choices!  A local informed me that there is a cider festival there in the summer.   This was a nice place to wind the tour down and relax.  The locals were friendly and informative.

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Moreton Corbet  is a part of English Heritage.  Check out this site for all the particulars of visiting, including how to get there.

Does this place have a history?  You decide:

Britain Express 

Shropshire Tourism

Revolvy

My Dark Travels

One more tip:

You may want to be prepared with a pair of wellies during/after a good rain.

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