CHAPTER TWO
Mills, Milling and Millstones
A
were erected on Anglesey during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, most closely resembled each other in design and outward appearance. Both Melin Llynon at Llanddeusant (opposite) and Melin y Gof at Trearddur Bay (overleaf) may be regarded as being representative of the type of windmill built on the island in this period. Taken together, the photographs illustrate the characteristic external features of the typical Anglesey tower mill. Four storeys in height, it was constructed from rough, undressed stone and either rendered all over or, more commonly, on the windward side only. Encircling its base was a low platform of stone which enabled the miller to reach the sails and also prevented animals from approaching too closely. The stone tower was surmounted by a boat-shaped cap with gabled ends, clinker-built of horizontal weatherboarding over a wooden frame. A fringing petticoat overlapped the top of the tower and afforded protection for the wooden rack or curb on which the cap revolved. The four common sails were carried on a cast-iron windshaft projecting through the front of the cap, tilted slightly to distribute its weight more evenly and allow the rotating sails to clear the wider, lower part of the tower. Each sail comprised a lattice-like framework of laths and bars mortised to a strong wooden backbone or whip. This in turn was fixed to a stouter length of timber called a stock, almost as long as the sail itself. Behind the stock and extending about one-third of the way along the sail was another length of timber called a clamp. All three were joined together by iron straps and bolts and attached in a similar manner to an iron cross on the windshaft. lt h o U G h
n e a r ly
FiFt y
windmills
MILLs, MILLING AND MILLsToNEs
Guise, Windmills of Anglesey.ind15 15
Melin Llynon, Llanddeusant (Muggeridge Collections, University of Kent) • 15 •
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