City Mill (Winchester)

A mill has existed on this site along the River Itchen since at least the Domesday Book survey of 1086, making it one of the oldest continuously used mill locations in England. The current building is a Georgian reconstruction from the 18th century, built atop centuries of prior milling infrastructure.

Yes, Winchester City Mill is a working watermill open to the public, operated by the National Trust. Visitors can watch flour being milled using the restored water-powered machinery and learn about the site's long history through on-site exhibits and demonstrations.

The mill is powered by the River Itchen, a chalk stream that flows through Hampshire, England. The Itchen is ecologically significant as one of the rare chalk stream habitats found predominantly in southern England, and its reliable flow has sustained milling at this site for nearly a thousand years.

The restored mill grinds flour using traditional methods and typically offers the flour for sale to visitors through the National Trust shop on site. This allows visitors to take home stone-ground flour produced by the same water power that has driven the mill for centuries.