A
potted history of Gimble Mill
Gimble
Mill is a former water powered stamping mill dating from at least
the 1600's when records show there were two water mills on the
site leased by two tin miners, Esikiel John and Emanuel Budge.
Both 'stamps' processed ore from a tin mine situated just behind
the property that has been disused for over a century now but
can still be made out today.
Tin
ore from the mine would have been fed into the stamping mill,
powered by the stream that still runs through the property today.
After being crushed the sands and grits were separated from the
ore using a number of large settling tanks called buddles. Processing
in the first buddle would yield a high amount of tin, the quantity
of tin reduced as the sediments were passed down through the buddles
eventually ending up in pits know as the slime pits, that yielded
little usable tin. Needless to say working in the slime pits was
not the greatest job.
Cornwall
was once the worlds main source of Tin. Records show Cornish tin
miners trading with merchants as far back as Roman times and most
likely before this. Later there was also copper mining and records
also show generations of copper miners living at Gimble Mill.
Now
however the mining is long gone and the land reclaimed by nature.
Bodmin moor has been protected as an area of outstanding natural
beauty (AONB), the area local to Gimble Mill has also just received
world heritage site status due to the importance of its mining
history and the way it influenced our world.
Today
Gimble Mill is run as an organic small holding with the goal of
sustainability, although we are not certified as organic we don't
use any artificial fertilisers and pesticides just good old fashioned
horse muck!
We
have a number of chickens and ducks, geese and guinea fowl, sheep
and a few ponies. Currently our chickens provide us with all our
eggs, eventually we hope to have our own pigs and produce our
own sausages and bacon too. We also grow a lot of our own fruit
and veg.
The
stream still flows past the house feeding two ponds and although
currently not in use will soon be generating power again for the
first time in over a hundred years, this combined with solar power
will ensure all our electricity is totally 'green' and produced
on site. All our water is naturally filtered and comes from an
underground spring that rises at the top of the property before
passing through numerous other filters including a UV light filter.
Effectively with have mineral water on tap!
As
members of COAST, the Cornwall Sustainable Tourism Project we
hope one day to be totally self sufficient…ish.
For more information on
the geological an anchient history of Bodmin Moor please click
on the following link for the pdf file "Bodmin
Moor 400 million years in the making".
