Archaeologists dig up rare medieval waterwheel

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Source: East London Advertiser
Mike Brooke

ARCHAEOLOGISTS have uncovered a rare medieval tidal mill on the River Thames.

The discovery was made at Limehouse Reach in East London, where a team has been excavating peat soil on the foreshore at Greenwich Wharf, opposite the area known as Millwall on the Isle of Dogs.

It is remarkably well preserved in riverside peat deposits, archaeological experts from the Museum of London revealed today.

They believe it is the foundations of London’s earliest-found medieval tide-powered mill.

The huge structure, measuring 30ft by 36ft at its base, would have had a wheel diameter of 16ft, an incredible size for a wooden structure of this type which represents an extraordinary example of medieval engineering, dated to the 12th century. Analysis of tree rings has dated the trees used for its construction to 1194.

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