Mills in Altoaragón - harinero

Samper

Samper is on the road from L'Ainsa to Campo (N-260). The mill is on the Río de la Nata north of the village. The mill is probably best to reach from La Cabezonada, higher on the same road. From this village take the small road leading to Atiart. You'll find the mill near the place where the road crosses the river.
(1) The mill (left) with the straight wall of the pond.

(2) Entrance
Not much remains of the mill building itself — certainly not since the construction work (6) — but what remains of the waterworks is certainly worth a visit.

The front facade (2) reveals that the building was also thoroughly renovated in the past. The edge of an old roof or porch is clearly visible above the entrance door. We found no protective signs around that door. The sill consists of an old millstone (3).

In the former work place the remains of two stone cases (5) can be found. Against the opposite wall we find the crane (4). No trace of the stones. They must have been removed to serve as garden tables elsewhere.

During our follow-up visit we found some small pieces of millstone incorporated into the newly built walls (7, 8).

(3) The sill at the entrance.
(4) Remains of the crane (grua).
(5) Work place with remains of stone cases.
(6) The site in December 2011.

(7-8) Fragments of old mill stones in te new walls — 2011

(9) Aerial view in july 1977 — © IGN.es
The waterworks, especially the mill pond (14-16), of this mill are impressive.

Almost the entire system is clearly visible in the 1977 aerial photographs (9) and during our visit we could still recognize almost the entire trajectory between the white strokes in 9. We were, however, not able to determine the exact location of the dam on the río La Nata.

The first section of the canal (upstream of the highest white stroke in 9) is carved into the river wall (10). In some places there is still a wall built from large blocks of natural stone (11). This was probably the case along the entire stretch of the river in the past.

Finally the canal leaves the river and runs along the foot of the slope to the mill pond. Along the way there are flat stones in the sides of the canal suggesting it had perhaps also a function in the irrigation of the zone.

(10)
(11) — vertical stroke in 9.

(12)
(13)

The canal ends above the mill pond (12, 13) and from there the water is brought to the pond through hollowed-out tree trunks.

We have seen hollow tree trunks at several other sites: inter alia Alins, Lacabezonada, and Villalangua.

(14)

The size of the pond (14-16) is amazing. It is built of two walls made of cut natural stone that run towards each other in a funnel shape. One of the walls is straight, the second is curved (9, 14 left). The straight wall is plastered with cement on the inside (15), not on the outside (16).
Note that the walls of the mill pond reach up to the ridge beam of the mill roof (16).

(15)
(16)

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