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Rock Mill Sluice Gate 1/30/2010 4:51:48 PM |
The weir held back a reservoir of water ready to be drawn off through the sluice, to turn the mills iron water wheel. The divided intake would have offered greater control of the flow. The water ran through an extensive tunnel before passing back into the river near Torr Vale Mill. The sluice was first in use around 1800. For a view of the probable inside of the tunnel see the Archaeology of Torr Mill page.
The sluice was covered by rubble until February 2009. A large deposit of building material and stone work which had presumably fallen from the ruins of a nearby building was over lying a deep deposit of slit. The build up of silt suggests that the sluice had been out of use for some time before the mill material fell on top of it. |
