Cast-iron pit wheel

The Žagarci Mill wasn’t merely a place for milling and threshing the grains, but also a place where people would meet. In summer, kids would come to swim in the pond above the dam and the townspeople would come on daytrips with boats. The people living nearby watered their cattle here and, in winter, when it was time to slaughter the pigs, they would come to drain the intestines. The Lahinja was also the main source of water for the villagers, as most didn’t have wells. Peter Pezdirc, a descendant of the Pezdirc family, who inherited his share of the watermill after his mother, started working at the mill in his early teens. The watermill was used for milling grain and was co-owned by the two families who lived up in the village above the mill. The families settled on higher grounds because the Lahinja typically rises sharply and at least once a year floods due to spring and fall rains. When that happened, they had to move all the grains from the mill to safety. Two millstones were used for milling, an upper ‘runner’, which rotated, and a lower ‘bedstone’, which was fixed. The upper one was around 30–40 cm thick, while the lower one was even thicker, but both had to be dressed regularly to maintain the grinding surface, which ensured good grinding and fine flour. During World War II, the millstones wore down more quickly, as they milled flour for soldiers in addition to local residents.

Both families milled grain to produce flour as well as corn to produce grits, but also oats, barley, and buckwheat. The payment was a prescribed portion of the finished product, which depended on the grain – a bigger portion of flour and a smaller one for grits. Over time, the amount of work at the mills declined due to new electrical mills and later, overwhelmed by roller mills, most of the watermills closed down.

Peter Pezdirc ran the mill until 1972, while the Romšek family ran it until Janko Ramšek's passing in 1974.

The mill has been abandoned and annual high waters contributed to its deterioration. Today the mills on the Lahinja are a silent testament to bygone times that left their lasting mark on life in this region, a testament to an era when time ran slower and life was different.

Source: Andrej Črnič, Mlin na Žagarcih.
Available at: https://www.kamra.si/digitalne-zbirke/mlin-na-zagarcih/ (accessed on 15. 11. 2022)