The Porreiras mills are located half way down the hill at an average altitude of 580 m. they are built in dry stone masonry walls, with a gable or shed roof. Rectangular in shape, they have a wooden floor and its foundations are partly opened to house the paddle wheels.
Access to the interior of the mill is via a door with frames and lintels in large granite blocks. The engine-mechanism consists of a couple of grinding stones, the stationary “bed” and the “runner”, moved by the rotation of the paddle wheel and the flow of water from the “cube” located at the back of the mill and at the end of the irrigation channels (levada). The cereal would fall grain by grain onto the ‘eye of the millstone’ due to the shaking effect on the ‘mill-hopper’ caused by a small piece of wood resting on the runner. The crushing of the grains forms the flour, which is then collected in a square-shaped container bounded by a small wall.
Location: Paredes de Coura
Access to the interior of the mill is via a door with frames and lintels in large granite blocks. The engine-mechanism consists of a couple of grinding stones, the stationary “bed” and the “runner”, moved by the rotation of the paddle wheel and the flow of water from the “cube” located at the back of the mill and at the end of the irrigation channels (levada). The cereal would fall grain by grain onto the ‘eye of the millstone’ due to the shaking effect on the ‘mill-hopper’ caused by a small piece of wood resting on the runner. The crushing of the grains forms the flour, which is then collected in a square-shaped container bounded by a small wall.
Location: Paredes de Coura
