Old-school milling

With Britons buying more flour during the U.K.’s stay-at-home orders, producers are getting creative to meet the unprecedented demand. To that end, the owners of the early medieval Sturminster Newton Mill in England have brought their 1,000-year-old flour mill back online. Since 1970, the water-powered mill has operated as a museum, grinding only enough grain to sell in the gift shop. But owners Pete Loosmore and Imogen Bittner said they decided to start producing at the mill’s capacity when local grocery stores ran out of flour. The first mention of the mill at Sturminster Newton dates to 1086 in the Domesday Book, a survey of people and property ordered by William the Conqueror. This April, the mill ground out more than a ton of bread flour. Loosmore and Bittner say their profits will be reinvested into the museum. “It’s been nice to bring the place truly back to life and back into something like it used to be when it was working six days a week,” Loosmore told the BBC.

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