Today we revisit some of the region's mills, with local historian and author, David Rowe...

Mills come in all sorts of shapes and sizes and were required for so many different purposes.

Mold has its area called Leadmills, Holywell a windmill, Buckley the Windmill Grill and at Ffynongroyw, the Garth Mill was converted into a public house.

But we need to go much further back to find our earliest mills.

In Greenfield Valley Heritage Park we find what remains of the 12th century Basingwerk Abbey.

The monks of the abbey harnessed the power of the water to run their corn mil, and in the following centuries Greenfield Valley was at the forefront of the industrial revolution.

Among the later 'mills' operating in the valley is the Meadow Mill that produced copper sheets for Thomas Williams and were fitted to wooden Royal Naval vessels, including Nelson's flagship H.M.S. Victory; the Lower Cotton Mill and Abbey Wire Mill.

Many of the factory buildings, although ruins, can still be seen today.

Readers will probably be familiar with the mill and associated water wheel in the Loggerheads Country Park and this provides a wonderful existing example of the layout and mechanism of a water driven corn mill.

But not so well known is the Llanferres Mill that can be see on the opposite side of the road to the country park.

In 1912, the water-run mill was operated by John Fennyhough, described as a Miller and Corn Merchant, and where a weight of 10 pounds (4.5 kilos) of bran would cost 8d (4p).

Rhydymwyn Mill.

Rhydymwyn Mill.

The pictured Rhydymwyn Mill, built in 1820, was converted to a factory for the engineering company, Statimeter Ltd.

One of their products maintained the link with mills but this time for the steel industry.

In 1948, the company devised and patented a system for maintaining constant pressure on rolling mill rolls, and this system became adopted worldwide. The building in Rhydymwyn was finally demolished in 1966.

The above only scratches the surface of the various types of mills that have functioned throughout the area and for some, the important role they played in British history.

Photograph of Llanferres, Rhydwymwyn and Loggerheads Mills from the Ray Davies Collection. Copy of the Llanferres Mill bill courtesy of Miss Anne Woodward.