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Oats were first dried in the drying room (see restoration) which was heated by the kiln below, the tiles of the floor contain holes to allow the warm air to rise. The oats would then be feed into the hopper of set of stones no.4. The gap between these stones was greater than the others (about 9mm), its purpose being to crack the shells of the oats without grinding the kernels.

Underneath no.4 the chute would take the oats and shells down a shaking sieve tray, which removed any dust, and then fall into the winnowing machine (photo right).

A belt powered from the layshaft above would turn the wooden paddle fan inside the machine. This would create a draught which would blow the shells and any chaff down the far chute. The oats being heavier were unaffected by the draught and fell straight down the near chute to be bagged. The Oats were then put through Stones 2 or 3 to make Oatmeal.

photo of winnowing machine
Winnowing machine

winnowing process

Animal feed Would be produced simply by feeding unprepared grain through Stones 2 or 3 as nothing needed to be taken out. After the resulting flour/meal product was bagged it could be loaded down on to a cart through the loading doors on the stone floor.

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