4/5 Pato 4 years ago on Google
It
is
only
open
on
Wednesdays,
Thursdays,
and
the
first
Sunday
of
the
month,
by
guided
tour
only
at
11.30,
13
and
14.30.
It’s
a
pity.
Closed
in
December
and
January.
Price
is
6£
It
is
a
water
mill
on
the
River
Cole.
But
it’s
famously
known
for
its
association
with
J.
R.
R.
Tolkien,
who
lived
within
300
yards
of
the
mill,
at
5
Gracewell,
on
Wake
Green
Road,
between
the
ages
four
and
eight,
and
would
have
seen
it
from
his
house.
He
himself
said
became
the
inspiration
for
the
mill
at
Hobbiton
in
his
classic
work
‘The
Hobbit’.
In
an
interview
with
Guardian
journalist,
Tolkien
said:
“It
was
a
kind
of
lost
paradise...
There
was
an
old
mill
that
really
did
grind
corn
with
two
millers,
a
great
big
pond
with
swans
on
it,
a
sandpit,
a
wonderful
dell
with
flowers,
a
few
old-fashioned
village
houses
and,
further
away,
a
stream
with
another
mill.
I
always
knew
it
would
go
–
and
it
did.”
Built
in
1542
on
the
site
of
a
previous
pool,
it
was
once
known
as
Bedell's
or
Biddle's
Mill
after
the
name
of
an
early
owner.
In
1727
it
was
described
as
High
Wheel
Mill.
As
early
as
1755,
the
mill
was
leased
by
Matthew
Boulton,
one
of
the
pioneers
of
the
Industrial
Revolution
and
leading
figure
of
the
Lunar
Society
for
scientific
experimentation.
It
is
believed
he
converted
the
machinery
for
use
in
metal
working.
As
well
as
milling
grain
it
has
been
used
for
grinding
bones
for
fertiliser,
metal
rolling
and
wire
drawing.
The
current
building
dates
from
1771
and
was
in
use
until
1919.
Thereafter
it
fell
into
a
state
of
disrepair
and
dereliction.
A
local
community
campaign
to
save
the
mill
was
launched
when
demolition
was
mooted,
and
was
finally
successful
with
the
mill
being
restored
in
1969.
It
is
now
run
as
a
museum
and
is
one
of
only
two
working
water
mills
in
Birmingham.
