A mill race is the current of water that turns a water wheel, or the channel (sluice) conducting water to or from a water wheel. The race leading to the water wheel is called the head race, and the race leading away from the wheel is called the tail race.
A mill race has many geographically specific names, such as leat, lade, flume, goit, penstock. These words all have more precise definitions and meanings will differ elsewhere. The original undershot waterwheel, described by Vitruvius was a run of the river wheel placed so a fast flowing stream would press against and turn the bottom of a bucketed wheel.In the first meaning of the term, the millrace was the stream; in the sense of the word- there was no channel, so no race.
As technology advanced, the stream was dammed forming a weir. This increased the head of water. Behind the weir was the millpond, or lodge. The water (millrace) was channelled to the waterwheel by a sluice or millrace- this was the head race. From the waterwheel, the water was channelled back to the stream by a sluice known as the tail race. When the tail race from one mill led to another mill where it acted as the head race this was known as the mid race. The level of water in the millrace could be controlled by a series of sluice gates.
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A head race
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Storckensohn water head race, or flume.
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Tail race rejoining River Meon.
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Cogglesford Mill: a covered head race and the by-pass weir
Famous quotes containing the words mill and/or race:
“The miller believes that all the wheat grows so that his mill keeps running.”
—Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe (1749–1832)
“The race may or may not be to the swift,
but tell me, is it likely
that the fight will be entrusted to the dead?”
—Hilda Doolittle (1886–1961)