In the 1870s flour milling became an important industry in Timaru. This structure, built in 1882, was the first mill in the country to be equipped with rollers rather than grindstones. This explains its height: grain was lifted to the top floor, where it was fed into the roller mills. It then descended through a series of mills until it reached the lower floor. There, the ground flour was sifted, bagged and shipped.