Woodbridge Tide Mill
Woodbridge Tide Mill in Woodbridge, Suffolk, England, is a rare tidal mill where the water wheel still turns and can grind wholemeal flour. It is a Grade I listed, three-storey wooden building clad in white Suffolk boarding with a Gambrel roof. The mill’s machinery shows skills from the early Industrial Revolution and it is preserved for visitors.
A demonstration reservoir covers about half an acre, while the original seven-acre site is now a marina. The site has records of a tide mill since medieval times (1170). It was run by the local Augustinian priory, then seized by Henry VIII in 1536. The mill was rebuilt at various times and later passed through private owners, with the present mill dating to the 17th century.
By World War II it was one of only a few mills still operating and it closed in 1957 as Britain’s last commercially working tide mill. In 1968 Mrs. Jean Gardner bought the derelict mill and began restoration, opening to the public in 1973. Today it is managed by the Woodbridge Tide Mill Trust, run by volunteers. In 2011 a major restoration added a new water wheel and fully restored machinery, allowing milling to resume. It reopened in 2012 and is now the only tide mill in the UK that regularly grinds wheat into wholemeal flour for sale, since the nearby Eling Tide Mill has maintenance issues.
This page was last edited on 2 February 2026, at 14:30 (CET).