This list of early medieval watermills comprises a selection of European watermills spanning the early Middle Ages, from 500 to 1000 AD.
Historical overview
Largely unaffected from the turbulent political events following the demise of the Western Roman Empire, the importance of watermilling continued to grow under the new Germanic lords. The sharp rise in numbers of early medieval watermills coincided with the appearance of new documentary genres (legal codes, monastic charters, hagiography) which were more inclined to address such a relatively mundane device than the ancient urban-centered literary class had been. This partly explains the relative abundance of medieval literary references to watermills compared to former times. The quantitative growth of medieval evidence appears to be more than a mere reflection of the changing nature of surviving sources. By Carolingian times, references to watermills in the Frankish Realm had become "innumerable". At the time of the compilation of the Domesday Book (1086), there were an estimated 6,500 watermills in England alone. By the early 7th century, watermills were well established in Ireland, and began to spread from the former territory of the empire into the non-romanized parts of Germany a century later. The introduction of the ship mill and tide mill in the 6th century, both of which yet unattested for the ancient period, allowed for a flexible response to the changing water-level of rivers and the Atlantic Ocean, thus demonstrating the technological innovativeness of early medieval watermillers.
Earliest evidence Below the earliest medieval evidence for different types of watermills. This list complements its ancient counterpart.
Written sources In the following, literary, epigraphical and documentary sources referring to watermills and other water-driven machines are listed.
Archaeological finds
Watermill sites Below are listed excavated or surveyed watermill sites dated to the early medieval period.
Millstones The following list comprises stray finds of early medieval millstones. Note that there is no way to distinguish millstones driven by water-power from those powered by animals turning a capstan. Most, however, are assumed to derive from watermills.
References
Notes
Sources Czysz, Wolfgang (1994), "Eine bajuwarische Wassermühle im Paartal bei Dasing", Antike Welt, vol. 25, no. 2, pp. 152–154 Holt, Richard (1988), The Mills of Medieval England, Oxford: Blackwell Publishers, ISBN 978-0-631-15692-5 Kessener, Paul (2010), "Stone Sawing Machines of Roman and Early Byzantine Times in the Anatolian Mediterranean", Adalya, vol. 13, pp. 283–303, ISSN 1301-2746 Mangartz, Fritz (2010), Die byzantinische Steinsäge von Ephesos. Baubefund, Rekonstruktion, Architekturteile, Monographien des Römisch-Germanischen Zentralmuseums, vol. 86, Mainz: Römisch-Germanisches Zentralmuseum, ISBN 978-3-88467-149-8 McErlean, Thomas; Crothers, Norman (2007), Harnessing the Tides: The Early Medieval Tide Mills at Nendrum Monastery, Strangford Lough, Belfast: Stationery Office Books, ISBN 978-0-337-08877-3 Murphy, Donald (2005), Excavations of a Mill at Killoteran, Co. Waterford as Part of the N-25 Waterford By-Pass Project, Estuarine/ Alluvial Archaeology in Ireland. Towards Best Practice, University College Dublin and National Roads Authority Ritti, Tullia; Grewe, Klaus; Kessener, Paul (2007), "A Relief of a Water-powered Stone Saw Mill on a Sarcophagus at Hierapolis and its Implications", Journal of Roman Archaeology, vol. 20, pp. 138–163 Rynne, Colin (2000), "Waterpower in Medieval Ireland", in Squatriti, Paolo (ed.), Working with Water in Medieval Europe, Technology and Change in History, vol. 3, Leiden: Brill, pp. 1–50, ISBN 90-04-10680-4 Watts, Martin (2006), Watermills, Shire, ISBN 978-0-7478-0654-7 Wikander, Örjan (1985), "Archaeological Evidence for Early Water-Mills. An Interim Report", History of Technology, vol. 10, pp. 151–179 Wikander, Örjan (2000), "The Water-Mill", in Wikander, Örjan (ed.), Handbook of Ancient Water Technology, Technology and Change in History, vol. 2, Leiden: Brill, pp. 371–400, ISBN 90-04-11123-9 Wikander, Örjan (2014), "Early Water-mills East of the Rhine", in Karlsson, Lars; Carlsson, Susanne; Kullberg, Jesper (eds.), ΛΑΒΡΥΣ. Studies presented to Pontus Hellström, Boreas. Uppsala Studies in Ancient Mediterranean and Near Eastern Civilizations, vol. 35, Uppsala: Uppsala Universitet, pp. 205–219, ISBN 978-91-554-8831-4 Wilson, Andrew (2002), "Machines, Power and the Ancient Economy", The Journal of Roman Studies, vol. 92, The Journal of Roman Studies, Vol. 92, pp. 1–32, doi:10.2307/3184857, JSTOR 3184857, S2CID 154629776
Further reading Watts, Martin (2002), The Archaeology of Mills and Milling, The History Press LTD, ISBN 978-0-7524-1966-4
See also List of tide mills on Long Island
External links The Oxford Roman Economy Project: The uptake of mechanical technology in the ancient world: the water-mill – Quantitative data on watermills up to 700 AD