Grist to the mill

It continues to amaze me, how easy it is to walk past something countless times without seeing it, and then once you've spotted it you wonder how you ever missed it.

A friend was visiting from America recently, and of course I dragged her down to St. Mary's to inspect the graffiti and other Linton treasures. As we wandered around we made a new discovery!

Embedded in the exterior of the east wall of the church are two round stones (possibly two and a half) which I believe were once used for grinding flour. They are not huge like the stones seen in wind or water mills, but a hand-span size (about 20cm), the right scale for domestic use. A little internet research tells me stones like this come in pairs, with a "quern" on the bottom and a "handstone" for turning on the top. Grain is poured in through the hole in the handstone, to be ground between the two surfaces. The technology is centuries old and has been used the world over for grinding wheat, corn, rice or whatever the local grain might be.

I don't know how old these particular stones are - they could be Medieval, maybe even Roman. The church has been restored, altered and repaired down the years (including this past year) and I don't know at which point these round stones became part of the building, but quite possibly it was during the early 14th century. Online I can't find many similar examples of stones like this being used in church construction - which is not to say there aren't lots out there, they may just not have been recorded.

Since Linton had a long history of milling it feels appropriate to find a nod to this built into the fabric of the church, which is the traditional heart of the village. I suppose the stones may have been just lying around and handy to use, or did they have some special significance? A form of blessing on local millers or farmers? A nice idea, though I have no proof at all.