Some of my recent posts have talked about the harvesting, threshing, and winnowing of grain, and how vital grains were as a food source in medieval times. But before grains could be used for baked goods and alcohol production, they had to be processed. For the most part, this happened at the local mill. There were two different types commonly used, depending on the climate and landscape; water, or wind.

It took a sizeable amount of money to build and maintain a mill. The entire building was basically a large machine, where water or wind powered a number of large gears that moved the grinding stones inside. Mill stones couldn’t be just any old stones. They had to have specific qualities, which often required that they be purchased and carted from quarries long distances away. Because the stones were so large, they might also have to be broken into pieces…