Pain and gain - the old mill tower, 1933

The Old Windmill Tower

The Old Windmill Tower is culturally significant as the oldest surviving European structure in Queensland, and one of only two surviving convict-built buildings in Brisbane. It is a reminder of the early difficulties encountered in establishing the small convict settlement that developed into the present city of Brisbane. The Old Windmill Tower at Spring Hill was constructed to support the needs of the convict penal settlement established in Brisbane in 1825. Maize and wheat were being cultivated in the area but there was no efficient way of grinding the grain into meal and flour. In 1827 Captain Patrick Logan, Commandant of Moreton Bay, proposed construction of a treadmill that would serve as both a facility to grind grain and a means of punishment for convicts who committed offences while at the settlement. The mill tower was constructed during 1828 and included two sets of millstones, one linked to a treadmill and one driven by rotating wind-sails.

Work at the treadmill was usually carried out from sunrise to sunset, with a three-hour break in the middle of the day in summer, or a two-hour break in cooler months. Sixteen men were constantly on the wheel, with another ten providing relief. The work was repetitive, exhausting and dangerous. Convict, Michael Collins, died in 1829 when he became entangled in the treadmill wheels, but the treadmill continued to be used until 1839.


For more on the history of the old windmill tower, see Brisbane heritage sites 

Then and now...

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• Category
  Historic Building
  Colonial Site
  View
• Time period
  1930s
• Persistent identifier
  Item ID: 1009388
• Queensland State Archive series link
  Series ID: 57 Photograph Albums
• Queensland State Archives digital image link
  Queensland State Archives Image ID 39719
• Contributing organisation
  Agency ID: 1976 Agriculture And Stock Department, Publicity Branch