Alberts Mill

- Adapted by A Tudhope from various sources -

Alberts Mill is the last of seven mills which used to operate in Prince Albert. Standing on the outskirts of the village, its wheel is driven by water which races along the furrow straight from the Swartberg Mountains.

Graan was vir die eerste keer in 1842 hier gemaal, maar die huidige gebou dateer uit 1850, toe HJ Botes ‘n groot meul opgerig het, waarvan die wiel-deursnee 2,4m was. Vyftien jaar later koop Pieter Alberts die eiendom, en oor die volgende honderd-en-twee jaar het vyf generasies van die Alberts die meule suksesvol bedryf.

Teen 1933 is al die koring in die distrik hier gemaal, en Oom Jan Alberts het vir Piet Swanepoel opdrag gegee om ’n nuwe waterwiel te bou, wat toe gedoen is by die ystersmid se smidswinkel agter die ou Luttig Meule in Markstraat.

In 1965 the mill was declared a National Monument and two years later Carel Alberts became the last miller in the family as competition from two massive mills in Oudtshoorn forced Alberts Mill to close.

In 1977 Carel sold the mill to Johannes Theron who arranged for its restoration with the Managing Director of the Union Steel Corporation of South Africa, Jan de Waal. After Mr Theron's death the mill slowly deteriorated but in 2000 the current owner Johan Senekal, in collaboration with the ‘Friends of the Alberts Mill’, started to bring it back to life. Today, with a new millrace and carefully restored wheel, it forms part of the Miller's Inn complex and visitors can once again buy stone ground flour milled at Alberts Mill.
Gedurende die Prince Albert Dorps- en Olyffees kan jy na Alberts Meule gaan kyk, en meer te wete kom oor die restourasie en werking van die meul. Join Derek Thomas and Dick Metcalfe for a tour of Alberts Mill to learn about its restoration and see how it works: Sunday 29th April 3.00 – 4.30pm