Childrens Iron Works in the lower mill - the audiofile texted
Nedre Kvarn (the lower mill) was built around 1770 originally with a pyramidal roof. The mill was rebuilt in the middle of the 1800’s and used as a mill until the end of the 1800’s.
Flour was milled from grain in the mill. The established way of milling flour was to use two round flat millstones. These could be turned by water wheels powered by the force of the stream outside. Grain poured into a hole in the upper millstone was crushed and ground between the two millstones as they turned.
In Lövstabruk it was the job of the women to bring grain from the warehouse to be milled, they would then bring sacks of flour home to bake bread. Mostly they would work together on a “storbak” or big bake once in the spring and once in the autumn. They would then store the hard bread with poles threaded through holes in the bread which were hung up in the kitchen ceiling or else in wooden chests.
The lower mill was used around 1900 as a display front for coffins made by the joiner Johan August Skytt (1862-1913) who was called “Old Death” (Gammeldöden). From 1920 the building was used as a cinema and gallery.
Today the lower mill is used as a fantastic playhouse for children from kindergarten and up. This play environment now called Barnens Bruk (childrens works) has been created by the childrens’ author and illustrator Sven Nordqvist and the artist Leif Högström. Here you will find a forge, a school, the works grocery and more all made in child size. In the cellar there are dark mine-like passageways with peeping cupboards. Around the building there is an insect trail, a butterfly house and a trail for finding “Mucklor” the imaginary creatures from Sven Nordqvist’s books.