Melin Maelgwyn (Bryn Du, Melin Uchaf)
This is one of two windmills in Llanfaelog. It is the upper mill (melin uchaf in Welsh), which stands on higher ground than the other, Melin y Bont, which is also known as Melin Isaf, ("lower mill"). Both have recently been restored as dwellings in a similar style.
A stone tablet on the tower gives a date of 1789, along with the initials ORK. The RO may stand for Robert Owen, who around this time was running Melin y Bont and may have also built this mill; in the 1840s the tithe books show that his son Owen was running both mills.
Owen Owen ran the mill until his death in 1861, after which his nephew John Lewis, who had been his assistant at the mill, took over ownership. He ran the mill until his death in 1920, after which his son John ran it until he died in 1948.
By 1929 wind powering of the mill had stopped and the sails were partially destroyed, but grinding continued for many years using a diesel engine to power the millstones. Come the the early 1990s and it was an empty shell, devoid of machinery and floors and was used for storage, but in 2005-2006 it was restored and converted to a dwelling (see picture of it during restoration here).
See other images of this windmill at:
- Windmill World
- Image taken in 1939, from the Donald W. Muggeridge Collection of Mill Photographs, University of Kent, Canterbury
- Anglesey.Info
- Geograph
More information at:
Melin y Bont, Llanfaelog, or go to gallery.
Aerial image
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