It stands on the site of earlier mills dating back to the Middle Ages.

The early mills, used a vertical shaft to take the power from the flywheel.

The smaller early mills in Mottram became uneconomic and harder to run.

Many of these earlier mills had been based on Arkwright-type designs.

Due to poor knowledge of iron's properties as a construction material, a number of early mills collapsed.

The mill provides a marked contrast to earlier mills by its extreme width (154') and large windows.

It has been claimed that the role of parental supervision continued into the early mills.

Floods destroyed these early mills, and the lumbermen rebuilt them.

The energy of falling water also powered Columbia's early mills.

Oatka Creek flows northward through the town and was a source of water power for early mills.