History of Millstones
The grinding of grain by primitive hand stones can be traced back even further than recorded civilization, although the methods used in prehistoric milling are a matter of some conjecture and speculation. It is certain, however, that stones used for grinding grain have progressed through the centuries, from the small stones held in the hand which were used hammer-like fashion to pulverize grain against larger stones or a rock face, to the highly efficient power driven millstones that are still used to this day.
Geologists and archaeologists have come across primitive types of pounding stones of a similar shape in various parts of the world. It is interesting to note that the methods used to reduce grain or berries to a more edible form did not very much by the people in the early civilizations of the Old World, the original peoples of the New World, or by the aborigines of modern uncivilized countries. A similar kind of hammer stone appears to have been in universal use perhaps between 25 and 50 thousand years ago.
The improvements in the simple pounding methods came with the introduction of the mortar and pestle which gave more of a grinding action. The grain was placed in a bowel-like piece of rock, the mortar, and ground by the pestle, a club-shaped implement. This was held in the hand and worked up and down striking the grain. The same principle was also used with mortars fashioned from a section of a hardwood tree trunk, the grain being pounded with hardwood pestles. There were, of course, many variations in the kind of wood used and in the size of the mortars and pestles. The design largely depended on local timber availability and the needs of the people using those grinding implements.
https://www.angelfire.com/journal/pondlilymill/paper.html
Millstone making in England
Abstract
Since the author's paper 'Millstones, Quarries and Millstone Makers' published in 1977 a good deal of interest has been taken in the subject, and much further information has come to light. The present paper is therefore an updating of the previous one as far as England is concerned, and tries to avoid any extensive repetition of information and ideas given there. It also avoids discussion of millstone making in the Peak District of Derbyshire since that very special area was dealt with in some detail in a recent paper in this journal. A general account is first given of the development of the millstone industry, particularly during the last two or three centuries, and its division into two distinct parts: (1) the making of monolithic millstones from indigenous rock in rural quarries and quarry workshops, and (2) the fabrication of millstones from imported small pieces of French burr-stone in urban factories. The import and export trades associated with these activities, and the cost of millstones, are discussed. Augmented data on English quarries which made monolithic millstones (outside the Peak District of Derbyshire) is presented, and it is found that none of these quarries are in the south of England. Finally, data on the many firms of urban millstone makers is given and discussed where that previously published can be significantly augmented, and it is mainly for the north of England that this is the case. (There was millstone making of both kinds in Scotland too, but this has been separately discussed. Further work on millstone making in Wales is in hand under the auspices of Mr Owen Ward and the Welsh Mills Group.)
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1179/iar.1987.9.2.167?src=recsys
Millstones, Quarries, and Millstone-Makers
The various types of millstone (monolithic and fabricated, face-grinders and edge-runners) are discussed, together with sizes and shapes, manufacture, dress, criteria of quality, etc. A list of known millstone quarry areas and individual quarries is given, covering Great Britain, with references to historical sources; and tables are presented giving the names, addresses, and dates of about 70 British firms which manufactured French-burr millstones in the 19th and early 20th centuries, together with a note of the location of some surviving identified examples of their work.
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1179/pma.1977.001?journalCode=ypma20
https://quarnstensgrufvansvanner.se/onewebmedia/charles%20hockensmitht.pdf