This talk will explore the background to milling in Wales and will follow the development of mills from simple hand querns to the watermills and windmills which replaced them. The Middle Ages, in particular, was a period of innovation and conflict. This was reflected in the technologies of the time, but also in the widespread opposition to manorial mills, which many saw as a means of exploiting the native population by the powerful Anglo-Norman lordships. Abbeys and monasteries played a significant part in the promotion of mills which, in turn, helped sustain their coffers! The talk will also look at the different ways in which water and wind power were utilised, leading up to the Industrial Revolution.
Gerallt Nash is a graduate of the Welsh School of Architecture in Cardiff University, and after working for several years in a private architectural practise he was appointed to the staff of St Fagans Museum, where he worked for 34 years becoming Senior Curator of Historic Buildings. During that time, he developed a keen interest in traditional mills and in 1984 he founded the Welsh Mills Society. He has spent more than 40 years researching the windmills of Wales and has written a book on the subject – and is now looking for a publisher!
