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Hey everyone,

Rillian here, with another exciting episode of Blocky Blueprints. Today, we'll be covering two ways that Medieval settlements harvested power through mechanical means: the water wheel, and the windmill. Now don't let this title fool you; my creations involve absolutely no redstone whatsoever (mostly because I'm so bad with it). Let's go:

Style 1: The Water Wheel:

So the water wheel was actually quite frequently used all the way back as early as the 1300's in early France, and very possibly before that. This used water to turn the paddles of a wheel which would then turn a crank that would generate power. I won't go out of my way to decorate the wheel's house, as I've usually used this in a sort of side addition to an actual house, as sort of an above-ground basement (if that makes any sense). So let's jump right in.

I started with making a river using Singleplayer Commands and WorldEdit (Ignore the BetterGrass mod that's failing for some reason):


I then started on the housing for the wheel. Notice how I make the floor flower than the actual ground:


Here's the axle that the wheel will turn when the water is flowing (imagine that the river I made doesn't actually stop, and has a current):


I then started on the foundation for the wheel:


Here's an almost-finished wheel (I actually took off the very ends of each side, because I felt I was making the wheel too pointy):


Then I made the rims of the wheels. Notice how both rims connect in the middles:


Here's the paddles made with stairs, and the new upside-down stairs, as well as some finishing done with wooden slabs:


I expanded the housing to shelter the axle:


Here, I built the housing a little bit:


I built up the walls pretty high here:


I then added the ceiling and roofing, made using upside-down wooden slabs and then stone brickwork:


Here's the finished water wheel:


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Style 2: The Windmill

I think most people can think of a windmill being medieval: after all, we've all seen it in pictures, in medieval video games, and we've read about them in books. Here's a style I developed that has a spire for the top and large sails.

I started by making a large wheatfield; you don't have to cover up the channels of water if you don't want to. In fact, they were usually left uncovered historically. I then made the large base for my windmill:


I then built up the walls about five blocks high:


I then added the middle section, making it much higher (about six blocks, I believe):


I then added the small spire serving as the top of the structure:


In the front, I removed part of the spire in favor of the base which will hold the axle (which will be turned by the movement of the sails of the windmill, thus generating power to turn wheat into flour, or anything else):


Here, I brought the axle out, and added the base for the sails. I used hatches to decorate the front of the axle:


I then brought out the sails about eight blocks to all directions:


Finally, I added fencing to show the cords that attach the fabric sails, and then brought out the large billowing sails of the mill. Here's your finished windmill:


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The End

Minecraft Version: 1.2.3
Texture Pack: JohnSmith

We'll now wrap up the third episode. I hope you guys got some inspiration for your own water wheels and windmills. But don't stop here. Please feel free to post your own creations inspired by this thread in the comments below, as well as any praise, feedback, criticism or the like.

If you're interested in seeing more of my work, don't hesitate to click my signature, which will take you to a hub filled with all of my creations. Stay happy, everybody!

Very nice! I really like the water wheel design.

gotta love that texture pack

The water wheel looks a little unwieldy and odd, the windmill is nice though.

I have to say i'm a bigger fan of my windmill, personally, but I like the water wheel part! Very nice design, thanks for the tutorial

Loved the windmill... i build one in my survival world for my farm.

Thank you, helped me a LOT.

Very nice mate, I have a perfect river in my lp for this :#

This is amazing. I did a slight modification to the length and width of the windmill tower to allow for a functional windmill system thanks to Better With Mods. Might also build one for Ancient Warfare, then post screenies of both to show off my modified design, with ladder system to allow easy maintenance of the mechanism.

Updated my design ideas, thanks to the Create mod. Made things even better, and even more efficient. Using this water wheel design to power a wheat farm, and a windmill to grind the wheat into flour for bread.