Szikszay Mihály: Adatok a jászsági vízimalmok történetéhez (2002) / 749-2002
Mihály Szikszai Data to the history of the water-mills in Jászság The mills used to play an important role in the people’s everyday life. The Hungarian man considered the mills to be a sainted and privileged place. The former places of the mills are preserved in the place-names and street names. Several processings in connection with the history of the mills in Hungary are wellknown but no general work about the Jazygian water-, horse-driven and windmills have been published up to the present day In the essay published here we are providing some additional material to the history of the Jazygian water-mills. When judging the water-mills we cannot disregard the facts studying them from the point of view of the water conservancy records. In this respect they have already been written detailed by Gerzson Nemes in his work entitled: The chronicle of the water conservancy of the river Zagyva and Tarna valley in the Jazygian district (1279-1876). We study these constructions from the point of view of the water utilization. The first water-mill in Jászság is mentioned in the sources in 1484. The documents, dated in Buda, are about the two-wheeled water-mill on the river Tarna in Borsóhalma.The following fact about the water-mills in Jászberény origins back to the Turkish period. The source refers to five water-mills in Jászberény in 1594. After forcing the Turkish out, Pentz’s registration made in 1699 mentions more water-mills in the Jazygian settlements. It refers to 1-1 water-mill in Árokszállás, Fényszaru, Jákóhalma, Dósa, Mihálytelek and Felsószentgyörgy in 1809 while in Jászberény and Alsószentgyörgy 2-2 are mentioned.The names of the water-mills are still preserved in geographical names in Jászfelsó'szentgyörgy, Jászfényszaru, Jászdózsa and in Jászberény. In the area of Jászság only the memory of the horse-driven mills has lived on nowadays, whereas a building of the water-mill can be found even at present. We can cite Jászalsószentgyörgy by way of example where the building of the mill - in quite a ruined state and unkept, of course - is still preserved by the river Zagyva. According to the uncovered sources we are making an attempt to write down the main technical features of the water-mills operating in the area of Jászság in our essay. The publication of the essay was sponsored by the ’Foundation for Jászság’. 209
