Millstone

The star of the Blackmill logo is undoubtedly a millstone and it is clearly obvious why. There used to be more than 40 watermills in Bela Krajina. The town of Črnomelj also got its name after one of them on the Lahinja River. The remains of the Žagarci Mill can be found not far from our distillery, making the millstone an important part of our story.

Žagarci Mill, where our millstone are from

Based on currently available information, the Žagarci Mill was first marked on military maps ordered by the Austrian Empress Maria Theresa from 1763–1787. The map referenced the settlement as Žagarji or Prisagari (literally at the Žagar’s) with four buildings on the left bank of the Lahinja and the mill directly on the dam. There are two theories as to how the settlement got its name. One suggests there was a sawmill first that later turned into a mill and the other that the mill was owned by someone with the last name Žagar. The Romšek family has lived in the area since the early 19th century. Three landowners of the property around the mill were listed in the registry, namely Janez, Peter, and Mihael. Based on the first entry from the land register of the District Court of Črnomelj in 1880, the co-owners of the land and the watermill were Peter, Franc, and Jože Romšek. Most probably, these were three brothers who jointly inherited the mill. In 1895, Franc Romšek sold his share to his brother Jože, who then owned two-thirds of the mill. Peter Romšek gave his share to Matija Pezdirc, his son-in-law, who married Katarina Romšek, in a marriage settlement.

The Romšek family is still called Jožin after the original owner Jože and the Pezdirc family is known as the Petriša family after Peter. Since 1880, the mill has remained owned by the Romšek and Pezdirc families. Both families had two millstones – a white and a black one – and three waterwheels. The Romšek family had a waterwheel for each of their millstones, while the Pezdirc family only had one for both millstones. Each wheel also had its own sluice.