Author Archives: emmacubitt

Labour Day Weekend | Saturday & Sunday | September 3 & 4, 2022 10am-6pm, both days | All are welcome! | Free admission Join us for an OPEN HOUSE to check out the latest construction that has just been completed at the mill. We will have all floors open so you can see the newContinue reading “Art Show & Open House @ the Mill!”

We are able to share the story of the mill from the era of the Valentines, to the Starks, to the Cryslers, to today! Here’s the story on the Harrowsmith #podcast. Have a listen! https://harrowsmithmag.libsyn.com/final-episode-six Summary of the interview below. The Rundown In this episode, we learn how COVID and a fortuitous canoe trip ledContinue reading “Interview about the Mill on the Harrowsmith Radio Podcast”

The following article was posted in the Paisley Advocate for the July 2021 publication. In January, the 135 year old Stark’s Mill with its large dam, 30 acres, and 2 kilometres of Teeswater River frontage passed from Paul and Helen Crysler to Emma and Graham Cubitt. The current mill was built in 1885 and stayed in the Stark family for a hundred years, operating until around 1975.  After years of sitting vacant, the Crylers purchased theContinue reading “Stark’s Mill – The Second Century Rejuvenation”

With the provincial lockdown, we have been spending all our time working from our new home at the mill. This has allowed us to discover more details of the building’s history, and being present as spring arrives also means we are getting to know much more about the flora and fauna.   We’re realizing Stark’sContinue reading “Turtles in Paradise”

We keep asking ourselves this question as we find old machinery. We recently joined SPOOM (Society for the Preservation of Old Mills – North American & Canadian chapters) to help identify what each piece of equipment was used for and its correct name. The folks in these groups are a great resource! One of ourContinue reading “How did this mill actually work?”

We were so excited to finally spend our first weekend at Stark’s Mill this Family Day. With the Crysler’s packed up and ready to move, we were able to stay in the vacant side of the mill for a few days. It also gave us the chance to get trained on the well-water system, back-upContinue reading “Winter Snow and Sunshine”

A new marketing video was recently released for the village of Paisley, and Nature’s Millworks at Stark’s Mill was featured! While we’re not able to carry on operating Nature’s Millworks, we have already come to love Bonfire on Queen, Tomboi Artisan Ice Cream, and Paisley Artscape Society. Once the pandemic eases, we look forward toContinue reading “Paisley, Ontario”

Stark’s Mill has been on this bend of the Teeswater River since it was built in 1885, following a fire at the first gristmill on this site. Throughout that time, it’s withstood all kinds of weather and every spring flood – including some big ones like in 1929. As we make plans for the nextContinue reading “Surveying”

It’s January 6, 2021 and we have become the new owners of Stark’s Mill and over 30 acres of beautiful Ontario river country…just as Ontario enters a province-wide lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic. We feel excited to begin this new adventure at the mill, but also a little sad that we can’t really startContinue reading “Keys!”

Water access has always been critical to operating Stark’s Mill. The river is the obvious water connection, powering the two turbines’ 125 horsepower and driving the line shaft connecting to all mill operations. But the site’s well also played a key role, providing water for steaming the grain prior to milling. The building is stillContinue reading “Municipal Water”