A grinding machine was found, some 30 years ago, in the loft of a house. The owner had no idea what it was, but decided to keep it.

On a recent visit to the Natural History Museum he saw the same machine described as a flour mill.

He has now donated the machine to Oldland Windmill and David Friend has started to restore it.

It is covered in rust, no paint and, so far, we have found no manufacturer's names or marks.

It is about 30'' by 20'' by 20'', driven by a handle one side and with a 30'' flywheel on the other. All seems in good order except the flywheel, which needs welding.

The heart of the machine is an 8'' diameter cast iron cylinder with straight grooves and a rotating cast iron drum which has curved grooves. These two parts are shown in the photograph below.

Can anyone identify this item for us ? It looks pretty agricultural, so perhaps it is for coarse meal rather than for flour.

Please contact us if you have any information or would like further details or photographs of the grinder to aid us with its identification.