by
Mildred Cookson, The Mills Archive, UK
Unity is strength, as was demonstrated at the Silvertown Mills in Essex, where the Co-operative Society built one of the best equipped, most perfectly proportioned mills at the start of the 20th century
‘The Miller’ of June 2, 1902 describes the mill, fitted by Thomas Robinson and
Son of Rochdale, as arranged "to ensure proficiency, dispatch and finish
in every detail of this huge mill’s layout". The site occupied about five
acres of land, with a river frontage, and a newly built wharf erected for the
mill, while at the rear it adjoined the Great Eastern Railway. It boasted what
no other London mill could claim, having direct road, rail and water
communication.
The building itself was constructed based on impressive designs and special attention was paid to the foundations to ensure it could withstand the weight of the building, machinery and wheat when complete. The outer face bricks were Leicester pressed brick that would withstand the strong weather they would encounter. The windowsills and window heads were of stone string courses, and along with the keystones were all of Derbyshire stone. The interior was faced with a glazed brick, around four feet from the floor level salt glazed bricks were used and the remainders were ivory white.
The wheat arriving by water was discharged by barge elevator at 40 tonnes per hour to a detached building on the quayside. The elevator was arranged to rise and fall with the tides. Once received, the wheat passed through a separator for preliminary cleaning. It then fell into an elevator and was lifted to the top of the silo house. A hoist in the receiving building allowed the unloading grain arriving by water in sacks. The silo house had 35 bins around 52 ft. deep and capable of holding 50 tons of wheat. ‘Moir’ patent automatic wheat mixers were set under each of the silo bins, so any desired quantity or proportion could be obtained for blending purposes.
The wheat could be taken from any silo, delivered into an "airing" worm and moved to another silo, rendering safe long storage when necessary. No exhaust was applied at the warehouse separators until after the wheat had passed over the sieves. Apparently adopting this method enabled 90 percent of the dust and other light impurities to be deposited direct into the sack, improving the subsequent aspiration of the wheat.
There were two separate and complete cleaning plants dealing with 350 to 400 bushels per hour. The wheat travelled from the silos to four rotary graders, four separators and other graders through to 31 cockle and barley cylinders, four washers and stoners, then to improved dryers and Parkinson’s coolers, and finally through Robinson’s scourers and brushes, all fitted with revolving cylinders. Four ‘Tornado’ dust collectors were used for collecting the dust from the cleaning machinery and wheat dryers. All shafts and bearings throughout the mill were fitted with self-lubricating bearings.
The ground floor had four lines of shafting, used for driving the two plants, with the usual elevator bottoms.
Read the full article, HERE.
Unity is strength, as was demonstrated at the Silvertown Mills in Essex, where the Co-operative Society built one of the best equipped, most perfectly proportioned mills at the start of the 20th century
 |
| Mildred Cookson |
The building itself was constructed based on impressive designs and special attention was paid to the foundations to ensure it could withstand the weight of the building, machinery and wheat when complete. The outer face bricks were Leicester pressed brick that would withstand the strong weather they would encounter. The windowsills and window heads were of stone string courses, and along with the keystones were all of Derbyshire stone. The interior was faced with a glazed brick, around four feet from the floor level salt glazed bricks were used and the remainders were ivory white.
 |
| The brightest UK example of modern scientific flour milling Image credit: Mills Archive |
The wheat arriving by water was discharged by barge elevator at 40 tonnes per hour to a detached building on the quayside. The elevator was arranged to rise and fall with the tides. Once received, the wheat passed through a separator for preliminary cleaning. It then fell into an elevator and was lifted to the top of the silo house. A hoist in the receiving building allowed the unloading grain arriving by water in sacks. The silo house had 35 bins around 52 ft. deep and capable of holding 50 tons of wheat. ‘Moir’ patent automatic wheat mixers were set under each of the silo bins, so any desired quantity or proportion could be obtained for blending purposes.
The wheat could be taken from any silo, delivered into an "airing" worm and moved to another silo, rendering safe long storage when necessary. No exhaust was applied at the warehouse separators until after the wheat had passed over the sieves. Apparently adopting this method enabled 90 percent of the dust and other light impurities to be deposited direct into the sack, improving the subsequent aspiration of the wheat.
There were two separate and complete cleaning plants dealing with 350 to 400 bushels per hour. The wheat travelled from the silos to four rotary graders, four separators and other graders through to 31 cockle and barley cylinders, four washers and stoners, then to improved dryers and Parkinson’s coolers, and finally through Robinson’s scourers and brushes, all fitted with revolving cylinders. Four ‘Tornado’ dust collectors were used for collecting the dust from the cleaning machinery and wheat dryers. All shafts and bearings throughout the mill were fitted with self-lubricating bearings.
The ground floor had four lines of shafting, used for driving the two plants, with the usual elevator bottoms.
Read the full article, HERE.
The Global Miller
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which is published by Perendale Publishers Limited.
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