Carew Tidal Mill - Visiting Wales' only surviving tidal mill

We visited Carew Tidal Mill in south west Wales while there on vacation back in April.

I'd never seen a tidal mill before. It sits on a dam across a tidal river. When the tide comes in, the reservoir pond fills up behind the dam. When the tide starts to drop, the reservoir gates are closed, and then the water is let out via other gates under the mill, which turn the mill wheels.

The building dats back to the early 1800s, so is about 220 years old now. It was derelict be restored in the 1970s and turned into a museum.

Above is one of the old mill stones for grinding the flour. I love the different channels and patterns in it - designed specifically to produce the relevant grade of flour they were looking to make.

The mill is quite well preserved, and looks like it could still operate, they clearly did a great job of the restoration.

Its not easy to see due to the reflection from the perspex cover, but that is part of one of the old wheels under that mill that was used to drive the machinery. There was another on the other side of the building.

The museum was quite nice, and you could wander up through all the floors, and it told the story of the mill, and explained all the machinery it had. Very interesting.

But the item above was the surprise of the museum collection. Its actually a funeral cart for carrying coffins ! Obviously not part of the standard operating equipment of the mill (I hope). It was a local cart used for burials, and for some reason was restored and placed in the mill !

The pic above gives a better view of the dam wall, which stretches right across the river. The reservoir is on the right side of the dam.

Above is one of the tidal gates. The reservoir is to the top of the picture so in this picture you can see that the tide has now dropped, leaving the reservoir full of water.

The pic above looks across the reservoir to the other attraction in the area - Carew Castle. It was quite interesting to visit, and your entry ticket gave you entry to both properties, which was quite nice.

All-in-all, quite a nice place to visit. You can park up once, visit both properties, and also take a nice circular walk right around the reservoir. It kept us entertained for a good 2-3 hours, so cant be too bad !!! Well worth the visit.