Originally published by Gethin Thomas SEPTEMBER. 20, 2020
[46-365] 20th September 2020- The Mill Pool at Stoke Gabriel, is contained by a stone-faced rubble dam and supported a two-wheeled tidal corn mill for many centuries. There was a tide mill in Dartmouth before 1243 and, given the more favourable site and much larger catchment area at Stoke Gabriel, it is highly likely that the dam and its double wheeled mill at Stoke were built at around the same time or even earlier . The Mill Pool dam is thus an important part of the parish’s early heritage and the corn mill, no longer present, would have supported a substantial area of farmland and much of the parish’s dependant population.
Here the dam is seen with the tide out on the right which is a creek of the Dart river and with the Mill Pool held back on the left which is still used for recreation purposes.
Here it is shown a few hours later as the tide, which rises quite quickly, starts to flow over it. It is totally submerged during high tides.
