A tide mill is a water mill driven by tidal rise and fall. A dam with a sluice is created across a suitable tidal inlet, or a section of river estuary is made into a reservoir. As the tide comes in, it enters the mill pond through a one way gate, and this gate closes automatically when the tide begins to fall. When the tide is low enough, the stored water can be released to turn a water wheel.
Tide mills are usually situated in river estuaries, away from the effects of waves but close enough to the sea to have a reasonable tidal range. These mills have existed since the Middle Ages, and some may go back to the Roman period.
A modern version of a tide mill is the electricity generating tidal barrage.
Read more about Tide Mill: Early History, Modern Examples, Surviving Tide Mills in Britain, See Also
Famous quotes containing the words tide and/or mill:
“Where have you gone? The tide is over you,
The turn of midnight water’s over you,
As Time is over you, and mystery,
And memory, the flood that does not flow.”
—Kenneth Slessor (1901–1971)
“The miller believes that all the wheat grows so that his mill keeps running.”
—Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe (1749–1832)