Pakenham Water Mill

Pakenham Water Mill is the oldest surviving flour mill in Suffolk, where once there were many.

There has been a watermill in Pakenham for almost a thousand years, and for all that time millers on this site have been using the simple technology of water power to produce stone-ground wholemeal flour for local people. Owned today by Historic Suffolk, a team of dedicated volunteers continues this long tradition.

Streams coming from parishes to the west of Pakenham merge and are channelled across Pakenham Fen to feed into the beautiful millpond. This water provides the power to turn the mill’s great iron waterwheel and drive the millstones.

Flour milling goes on all the year round. We are open to visitors during the summer months. Inside the mill all the machinery is visible (and safely guarded) and a friendly guide will show you round and explain how it all works. If you come on a Thursday morning between about 10.00 and 11.30 you are likely to see the mill actually working and the flour being produced and bagged up for sale. You should also take a look at the old kitchens in the Miller’s House displayed as they were in the past.

Outside you will find the garden at the back of the mill where you can just sit and enjoy the tranquil setting by the millpond or stroll along the circular walk past a recently planted orchard of traditional fruit trees and around the pond coming back on the other bank, where there is a wildlife area particularly attractive to children who like to hunt for frogs, toads, slow worms and insects.

Best of all there is our delightful tearoom where you can enjoy tea, coffee and home-made scones and cakes, or a ‘miller’s lunch’ (and we are licensed too). Why not take these out to enjoy in the garden?