Place Mill stands on the
Town Quay
near the Priory Church and may have been mentioned in
William I's
Domesday Book
of 1068 before the great priory church was built.
Although the mill was part of the monastic buildings which, save for the
Priory Church,
passed to the crown at the
Dissolution of the Monasteries
in 1538
and were destroyed, it survived and continued to
grind corn into the early 20th century.
It's 900-year working history, brought to an end in 1908 through
structural defects 
and competition from roller milling as at
Throope Mill,
included not only the grinding of corn but also in the fulling process of the once
important woollen industry.
After it ceased work as a mill, the building was used as a boat store but was restored
in the 1980s and opened as a museum, an art gallery and a tourist information centre.
For 70 years the mill was used as a boat shed until it was restored by Christchurch
Borough Council in 1988.
It is now open throughout the summer months as an information centre as well as housing
displays of arts and crafts amongst the working machinery.
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Unfortunately, the fabric of this ancient building can no longer withstand the vibration
which would be caused by the grinding of the millstones - although the remainder of the
mill machinery has been carefully restored, the millwheels have not been fitted just in
case they should be accidentaly turned on.
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Place Mill is quite remarkable in that it draws its water from one of the rivers of
Christchurch, the Avon, and this is carried by the
Mill Stream which was hewn from the
soil by the mediaeval monks of the Priory, and drains into the Stour having turned
the huge water wheel 
.
Both rivers are tidal at either end of the Mill Stream and, under
some conditions, a head of only 30-cm (1-ft) is available at the wheel
.
Such an energy economy must by its very nature be precarious and the
mill's 900-year working history is testament to the skill of the millers who worked there.
If the Stour has served the mill well, it has also tried to claim it as its own - as the
tide marks on the walls of the machinery floor record.
More details:-
Mill Stones
Sack Hoist
Water Wheel
