Milling techniques used by Marriages
Marriage’s mill in Chelmsford, Essex uses both modern and traditional milling techniques to produce our range of wheat flours.
White flours are produced using an automated roller mill, which removes the wheat’s outer skin leaving the inner white endosperm. Our light brown flours are also produced on the roller mill by milling white flour, then adding some of the bran and wheat germ back in at the end of the process.
Marriage’s stoneground wholemeal flour is still produced in the traditional, far slower way, using horizontal French Burr stones from Northern France. With stoneground wholemeal flour, the entire whole wheat is used and nothing is removed. The stones require regular maintenance and dressing by Marriage’s expert millers, to keep them in good working order. This includes re-cutting channelled groves into the stones when they have become too smooth.
Marriage’s ensure the highest level of quality control by selecting the finest wheat from local farmers, mainly in Essex, as well as importing premium wheat from Canada, a location world-renowned for its wheat quality.
The history of flour milling
Marriage’s horses working on the farm
In early human settlements man would grow crops, which were ground up using stones to make them more digestible to eat. It was this ability to grow and harvest grains that changed man from a hunter-gatherer into a farmer. Over the years this basic milling process has been refined and improved – and today, bread made from milled flour, is now a major part of the human diet.
Wheat was first grown around 8,500 years ago in the Middle East. Early man created flour by using stones to crush up grass grains. They mixed this flour with water to create a paste that was dried in the sun before being baked into basic unrisen loaves.
During the prehistoric period, concave shaped ‘saddle stones’ were used to grind grain. Grain was put into the concave stone section, which acted like a bowl and another stone was used on top to grind the grain down. This process was done by hand.
Sampson Marriage Working in the Mill
Over time, these stones evolved into ‘querns’ or stone hand mills; a type of round stone which ground grains more effectively, making the milling process easier. Querns were comprised of a heavy base stone, which stayed still whilst the top was moved by hand to create coarse flour, similar to modern wholemeal flour.
During the Iron Age, ‘querns’ were further developed, by adding handles so they became easier to manoeuvre. The greatest innovations in milling came from the Romans, who used animals and waterpower to turn millstones, a development which was started by the Greeks. The Romans also began to grow better quality wheat and introduced rudimentary sieves, which meant that across their Empire they were able to create finer, paler flour.
Further advancement was made in the 11th century when watermills and windmills became more widespread. Windmills had sails made of cloth that were turned by the wind, and then ground the wheat into flour.
During the 18th century, technological improvements meant that mills powered by coal-powered steam turbines became common. Then, in the 19th century, the Industrial Revolution bought significant changes to the milling industry. In 1846 the English Corn Laws, which prevented the import of foreign wheat, to protect the domestic industry, were repealed to avoid a famine. This resulted in greater amounts of hard wheat being imported from Canada.
The Marriage family have been flour millers for nearly two centuries.
Towards the end of the century, technological advancements were made when mechanised steel roller mills, created in Hungary in the 1870s, replaced watermills and windmills. These metal roller mills crushed the grain and not only made the milling process far faster, but meant that flour could be ground much more finely, therefore satisfying growing customer demand for white flour. By the early twentieth century, most watermill and windmills in this country had become obsolete.
Most modern flour milling uses automated roller milling. Some mills, including W & H Marriage & Sons’ mill in Chelmsford, do also continue to grind flour in the traditional way using mill stones, a much slower technique that has changed little since early times.
Centuries later, the fifth generation of the Marriage family is continuing the quality flour milling tradition. Marriage’s now produce a range of superior flours for bread, cake and pastry making. Modern machinery is used to produce the majority of our flour; however Marriage’s still mills stoneground wholemeal flour using traditional, horizontal French burr stones to give a delicious, nutty flavour and special texture.
We have been milling organic wheat for many years and producing 100% organic flour varieties since 1986. Our organic flour is certified by the Organic Food Federation. Marriage’s can work with commercial customers to create bespoke flours to match their individual needs, whether they want to produce pizzas, muffin mixtures or Italian breads.
