12th May 2013, 11:37 PM
a horse mill. But with no horse?! A mystery indeed. Richard III spent a bit of time at Middleham, perhaps this could be the origin of his famous exclamation? :p Seriously though, several Googled sources date this horse mill to the 16th century, which suggests that it was a documented conversion. Elsewhere it is linked to malting and brewing activity on the site. See page 2 of this publication http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/publi...tle-15.pdf As for the lack of a central posthole, well it lacks one now but I doubt it had turf in it's centre 500 years ago....