The Tower Mill

An old windmill which sits to the north of the city. Not the greatest angle of it, but I really wanted to include the sunset.

"Brisbane’s oldest building has many facets to its sometimes dark and brutal history - built by convicts in the late 1820s, it is not just the longest surviving convict building but also the oldest windmill in existence in Australia.

At first seen as a folly due its ill-conceived often windless location, it morphed into a symbol of dread and torture as penal Commandant Patrick Logan used convicts to work a treadmill he had constructed to keep the arms turning in lieu of wind. As a punishment they would be set to work in 8kg leg irons for fourteen hours straight and in the burning sun to keep the maize grinding. Wearing only rough leather hats for protection they had to grasp an overhead rail using both hands and walk the 23cm wide steps continuously and if they missed a beat they’d be hit on the shins with the next step as it rose. The only way of getting off early was to collapse.

Andrew Petrie, the notable early settler and builder described how he would be disturbed by the constant ‘click click’ sound of the convicts’ irons as they tried to keep in step."

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