Welsh Journals

WATERPOWER IN THE NORTHERN LORDSHIP OF GOWER BRYAN TAYLOR When one examines the history of water mills that once operated in the region known as the Lordship of Gower, two general categories immediately become evident. The peninsula, or west Gower, exhibits a collection of typical small, rural mills, while the northern division is amazing in its diversity. The variety of types that functioned north of Swansea reflects a totally different culture and many were in fact precursors of the industrial age. The traditional 'water-corn-grist mills' that served the marcher lords were all based on a design that was derived from the original Roman or Vitruvian mill. In this system, the shaft of the waterwheel was geared to drive one runner stone. In the eighteenth century, Rennie revolutionised this simple design. He developed a shaft which turned a large spur wheel from the circumference of which two or three drives could be taken, operating two or three pairs of stones. Many of the old manorial mills were rebuilt using the new system in the latter half of the century; Middle Mill at Burry and Parkmill were examples of this. Manorial mills were established in the northern part of the Norman Lordship; however the truly rich corn lands were to the south, thus the early distribution of mills tended to cluster in that area, namely Swansea and the peninsula. The map showing the corn mill sites aims to illustrate this, up to a point. Flour mills such as Ynystawe and Garnant were built during the nineteenth century (the designation is important) to supply the rapidly expanding population of the industrial villages. Some of these were the new, steam mills, examples of this type were located at Morriston, Clydach and Pontardawe. The growth of the latter townships was such that even these new mills were unable to satisfy the local demand. A further vital factor was the import of cheap wheat from overseas at the port of Swansea, where numerous large steam mills were built in Wind Street and The Strand. These mills produced white flour in huge quantities and this was easily transported up the Tawe valley even to the furthest villages. Thus the days of the