British film maker and writer Colin Collis generously offered Tide Mill Institute photographs of two tide mill paintings by Victorian artist Alfred Omega Townsend (1845-1917) for posting on the TMI website. Information about the subject, a tide mill in Falmouth, England, is scarce, but a 2005 report about Falmouth by the Cornwall & Scilly Urban Survey project speculates that the tide mill probably was established in the late 1600s and ceased operation in the 1860s. Remains of the mill pond walls were examined as recently as 1988 when the area was developed as a marina.
Thanks to Collis and the Falmouth Art Gallery, we’re able to share three contemporaneous images of the mill. All were painted while the decaying structure still stood: the two below by Townsend and a third by William J. Boase Smith (1842-1896). The Smith painting, “The Old Bar Mill/The Old Bar Pool,” hasn’t been cleared to post directly on the TMI site, but it can be viewed on the art gallery’s website by clicking here.
One might wonder how many other examples of tide mill art exist in museums, galleries and private collections. If you know of any, please contact Tide Mill Institute. If possible, we will share them with our followers.
Falmouth tide mill circa 1890 by Alfred Omega Townsend. Courtesy of Colin Collis. ©Colin Collis.
Falmouth tide mill circa 1898 by Alfred Omega Townsend. Courtesy of Colin Collis. ©Colin Collis.