The House Mill, London

Today I had an absolutely fantastic day out at The House Mill on Three Mills Island in east London! Three Mills Island is a man-made island where the River Lea meets the Bow Creek and is named as such because there used to be a windmill, the Clock Mill, and the tidal mill that still stands today and is the House Mill in question because of the little house built onto the side of it for the Miller to live in. Unfortunately (disastrously, for me!) the windmill didn't survive, but the Clock Mill building is still there although not open to the public as it's privately owned. Also on the site is the famous 3 Mills Studio, where lots of films and TV things are made. As you'll see from my photos the location makes an ideal setting for any period piece, which is presumably why the studio is there :) The House Mill is open on Sundays from May to October, entry is £3 (bargain!) and it begins in the Miller's house which is now converted into a lovely little cafe. We (my boyfriend and I) drank water, ate rolls made with our choice of filling, and shared a strawberry scone as we waited for the tour guide to be ready (none of us were in a hurry) and the food was well yummy! Then our tour began with a lovely lady who told us that part of the original floor had been discovered and restored, it's the beautiful black and white tiles in this pic:

Then we were taken outside so we could learn about the location and shown the underneath of the building where the wheels were/are:

We began at the ground floor and stopped at each floor on the way up, being told very interesting things about how the mill worked and what life was like at that time and in that profession. At the top we went across to the other side of the building and stopped at each floor on the way down to learn even more - the interior is much bigger than the exterior looks! You can just feel the history all around you, the whole experience is fascinating... Here's some highlights, in photos. This is part of the lovely original wall that divided the work area from the Miller's house :

One of the floors which features a working model of some of the machinery so you can see the wheels and cogs turning in order to hoist grain up to the top floor:

Another shot of some fab machinery, fetauring chute where the grain comes down to the machine from floor above:

Storage room of machine spare parts!:

Each floor features a gorgeous little staircase like this (I loved these):

Here you can see the chutes where the grain would fall down into the big pots:

It's possible to peek through some gaps to see the wheels at the bottom which would be powered by the water when the tide went in or out (I can't remember the specifics of it but the wheels are really cool):

Here are the sacks that the final end product would go into, and this is where the Miller himself would exit his comfy little house next door and come to inspect the quality of the product he was about to send out to sell:

Totally cool interior side view of the wheels at the bottom of the mill:

And finally - some lovely weather boarding at the back of the mill, when the tour ends out in the garden:

I would highly recommend this tour to everyone and anyone! You can find more details and information on the House Mills' official website here: http://www.housemill.org.uk/index.html