one of a kind
Australian Milling Museum aims to research, preserve and celebrate Australia’s flour milling history from pre-1788 to present day, with a focus on the vital role milling has played in underpinning Australia’s economic development.
The Australian Milling Museum is the first of it kind and there is no other museum dedicated to telling the story about grain milling.
The Australian Milling Museum received its first repair machine, a rice separator for separating heavy grains from light. Donated by Nestle’s research and development centre in Rutherglen, Victoria, it marked the beginning of what would be one of the most important museums preserving the Australian Industrial era.
Dr Jennings’ (CEO) work has already uncovered a number of interesting finds including a previously unpublished database of 700 mills in existence across NSW between 1788 and World War One. It’s expected that more stories will be uncovered when Australian farming families come forward to tell their own tales, bits of milling machinery and their family archives.
“Old mills used to be the lifeblood of every country town in Australia, but they have been forgotten once they closed to bigger corporate companies, and we want to save their memory and their great legacy because they contributed so much to the progress of rural Australia.”
— Dr Jess Jennings