512 ON THE PRICE OF BUILDING MATERIALS. 



employed for grinding wheat. The King's College millstones 

 are used for crushing malt. Such is the single stone at us. in 

 1585, the pair for 33^. 4<l. in 1586, the stone at zos. in 1590, and 

 another at 19^. in 1591, which came from Ely; a pair in 1594 

 for 53 s. 4d., one at 14 s. in 1615, a pair for 6os. in 1621, a pair 

 at 32s. 6d. in 1624, a pair at 405. in 1629, a single stone at 2is. 

 in 1631, another at 30.?. in 1633, a pair for 40^. in 1635, a pair 

 at 6os. in 1640. From incidental notices in the King's College 

 accounts I find that this was a horse-mill. With a similar 

 purpose, Eton buys a pair in 1586 for 33^. 4^., another pair in 

 1596 at 705-., one for 50^. in 1646, a pair ' carried and fitted ' in 

 1670 for IQIS. 6d. I conclude that the Winchester purchases 

 are of the same character. A single stone carried in 1645 

 costs 36^. Sd., one in 1681 at 4?s., a pair in 1686 at 65^., and a 

 single stone in 1693 at 44^. with carriage. The average of 

 the Cambridge pair is almost exactly 42^. ^d., of the Eton 

 79*. 8d., at Winchester Sos. id. 



In Basingstoke, the Wardens of the Brotherhood of the Holy 

 Ghost give with the carriage io6s. for a single stone in i597> 

 possibly a French or Rhenish article. But in 1610 they only 

 pay 30^., in 1613 20^., in 1637 40^. In 1600 Lord Spencer 

 pays 133^. -4^. for a pair. 



The most important purchases are those made by the City 

 of Oxford in the years 1599 and 1603. In the former year 

 the city gave 15 for a pair of millstones, in the latter 

 25 qs. id. These were unquestionably of the best French 

 burrs 1 . In 1567, 1572, 1574 and 1581 the city purchased 

 other stones, at ^15 6s. Sd. the pair, carriage included (see 

 vol. iii. p. 392 ; vol. iv. p. 426). 



The Oxford City Mill was near the castle, and the citizens 

 claimed to compel all the inhabitants of the town to grind 

 their corn at the city mill. To be just to them, they seem to 

 have furnished their mill with the best appliances with which 



1 I have been informed on the best authority (my friend Mr. George Palmer 

 of Reading), that even at this time no grinding instrument is equal, for producing 

 the best flour, to the French burr. 



