Prisoners sent to Norfolk Island during the period of the second British Settlement from 1825 to 1854 endured some of the worst treatment possible. The Crankmill pictured here, was one place where this was very apparent.
It operated on the principle of a capstan, a vertical-axled rotating machine developed for use on sailing ships to apply force to ropes, cables, and hawsers. Here in this context it was appallingly heavy, its team of convicts being required to turn two gigantic grindstones. The overseer sat in a gallery high up in the wall, ignoring the screeches, curses and hoots of the toiling wretches below him but making sure that no man flagged for an instant. It is said that the fearful clankings and grindings of the crank mill could be heard as far away as Anson Bay.