SingletonMills Guide to Old Australian Mills

Where to See an Historic Flour Watermill, Windmill or Steam Mill in Australia

Singleton Mills homepage > Visit an Historic Australian Mill

In special places across Australia, there are still some intact historic flour mill buildings, dating back to the early 1800s, that may be seen or visited by the public.

Left, the Old Mill, an historic windmill at South Perth; Right, the Monds Roller Mills, the last watermill to operate in Tasmania

Above left, the Old Mill at South Perth, Western Australia; image by Che Lydia Xyang, Wikimedia Commons. Above right, the Monds Roller Mills building in Tasmania; image by Peripitus, Wikimedia Commons -- The Monds Mills was a watermill and was the last water-powered mill to operate in Tasmania.

Some buildings may still house some original machinery that connected the grinding equipment to the power source: huge wooden or iron cogs in watermills and windmills, or line shafts and pulley wheels for belt drives in steam-powered mills.

Left, giant cog wheels inside Callington Windmill, Oatlands, Tasmania; right, massive iron pulley wheels on a line shaft inside Days Steam Mill, Victoria.

Above left, giant cog wheels inside the Callington Windmill in Oatlands, Tasmania; image by HG Park (Sam). Above right, iron pulley wheels on a line shaft inside the Days Steam Mill at Murchison, Victoria; screenshot from the Parks Victoria Virtual Tour.

The millstones that were used to grind the grain may still exist in some mills, - or roller mills and other machinery in later mills.

Left, millstones displayed inside the Peerless Roller Mill in Birdwood, South Australia; right, roller mills inside the Tremains Mill in New South Wales.

Above left, a pair of millstones that is on display in the Solid Ground exhibition inside the old Birdwood Mill (or Peerless Roller Mill) in South Australia. Above right, A set of roller mills that were used to grind flour inside Tremains Mill at Bathurst, New South Wales; a screenshot from the Tremains Mill Virtual Tour on the Australian Milling Museum website.

At a few watermills, a massive waterwheel, or parts of the long water races that carried the water to the mill, may still be seen; and in 2024 we know of two restored Australian windmills that have been re-fitted with replicas of their huge sails.

Left, a 25-tonne iron water wheel, and right, a suspended iron water race, both at Anderson's Flour Mill in Smeaton, Victoria

Above left, the 8.5 m diameter, 25 tonne, iron waterwheel in the Anderson's Mill in Victoria; image by Cobb Cobb. Above right, a suspended iron water race used to bring water to the huge waterwheel in Anderson's Mill in Victoria; image by Ethan Colley.

To our knowledge, in 2024 there are no original historic mills still producing flour in Australia. However, parts of some flour mills have been kept in working condition to show visitors the age-old art of milling. There are also some fascinating old mills on display that were used for other purposes, such as pumping water.

In this set of webpages, we present a guide to the best places in Australia to see an historic flour mill:

SingletonMills Guide to Old Flour Mills in Australia

-- Introduction to Australia's Old Mills (this page)

-- The Eight Best Historic Australian Mills displaying our milling history.

And other intact flour mills that can be readily viewed, at least from the road:

-- Watermills,

-- Windmills, and

-- Steam-Powered Mills.

If you know of another historic Australian flour mill on public display that you would like us to add to these lists, please Contact Us.

Important
SingletonMills does not advise anyone to enter private property without the owner's permission to view any mill listed on this page. If public access to a mill building is not permitted for any reason, the listed mills should be viewed from the road without entering private property.