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Yorkshire team preserves medieval mill
TECHNIQUES used to preserve the world famous Mary Rose are being employed by Yorkshire archaeologists to help protect an 800-year-old watermill unearthed in London.
Excavations at Greenwich Wharf uncovered the foundations of the capital's earliest found tide-powered mill, which experts have compared to a medieval version of the London Eye landmark.
The huge structure, measuring 30ft by 40ft at its base, would have had a wheel diameter of more than 15ft and dates from the late 12th century.
Key sections of the find, including the trough and the waterwheel, have been removed and are being conserved by York Archaeological Trust.
The watermill's timbers are being preserved at the trust's York unit using the same wax techniques as those employed on the Tudor warship Mary Rose, the remains of which were raised from the sea 27 years ago and are now on display in Portsmouth.
York Archaeological Trust principal conservator Ian Panter said: "The conservation involves a slow process of impregnat-
ing the wood with the wax, which will take two years to complete.
"This is a very exciting opportunity to be involved in the conservation of London's earliest medieval watermill."
Tidal mills worked by drawing in water from the river as the tide rose and releasing it as it fell, powering the structure.
The mill at Greenwich features a substantial fragment of intact waterwheel and an enormous trough to channel the water which was shaped out of a single oak beam.
It was so well preserved in riverside peat deposits that carpenters' construction marks are still visible on the wood.
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Saturday 26 May 2012
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