KarunaNews Story

Plenty of hip bakeries these days are leaning into heritage wheat flours and other ancient grain varieties, but it’d be hard to top the historic value of the flour being milled at the Holgate Windmill. Nestled in a suburb of York, England, the brick tower mill is the oldest working windmill of its kind in the country, still grinding grain as it did 255 years ago. Since it was built in 1770, the surrounding area has changed quite a bit. Yet the historic structure remains much as it ever was, thanks to a preservation society of about 40 volunteers who worked for 10 years to restore the mill starting in 2001, as well as revive the craft of producing flour by windmill. These days, following the over $669,000 restoration, flour is typically milled at Holgate twice a week. As of 2023, its grain and spelt are sourced from nearby counties, and the site mills up to 4.4 tons of flour annually.