Piruchtův mlýn

Pirochtův Mlýn (also spelled Piruchtův Mlýn, after its present-day owners) is a historic water mill in Boskovice, a town in the South Moravian Region of the Czech Republic. It stands on the Bělá river, in the eastern part of the Pilské údolí valley, at Podhradí 689/23.

How old is the mill, and where does its name come from?

The building has Renaissance origins and already appears on the map of the First Military Survey, drawn up between 1764 and 1768. Its ownership history reaches back further still: Václav Souček rebuilt the mill in 1648, and in 1744 it passed under the Dietrichstein estate into the hands of Jakub Ambrož. František Ambrož owned it in 1833, followed by Rudolf Martinec and Antonín Petr between 1920 and 1921. Since 1927 the mill has belonged to the Piruchta family (also spelled Pirochta), which gave the building its present name. The current owner, Jan Piruchta, inherited the property in 1977.

What does the mill building look like?

The two-story structure, built on a rectangular footprint, combines a residential wing and a milling section under a single roof. Walls are of mixed stone-and-brick masonry, and the smooth facade carries pilaster-strip framing. The hipped saddle roof is covered in eternit sheeting, laid over an older wooden shingle layer still surviving underneath. The residential wing follows a three-bay plan around a central hall: the ground-floor hall has a barrel vault, the upper floor reached via a wooden gallery. Traces of "black kitchens" — chimney-less rooms where smoke vented directly indoors — survive on both floors. The mill wing itself is a single-bay structure spread across three levels, with a separate south-side entrance.

What has survived of the original milling equipment?

Inside are the remains of an overshot water wheel, alongside a nearly complete set of early 20th-century machinery: American-type roller mills, grain cleaners, bucket elevators, belt and gear transmissions, a roller press, a huller, and conveyors leading to a flour-bagging platform. A diesel auxiliary engine built by Breitfeld, Daněk & Co. of nearby Blansko — a well-known industrial machine maker — backed up the water-driven power.

Where did the mill's water come from?

Water originally reached the wheel through a millrace fed by a dedicated millpond. That pond was removed in the 1950s and replaced by a sports field, which still occupies the site today. Water now reaches the mill through an underground channel fed by the overflow of the neighboring Dvořáček mill.

What was the Boskovice mill cascade, and why is this mill special?

Pirochtův Mlýn was one link in the so-called Boskovice cascade, a chain of five mills and two sawmills strung along roughly three kilometers of the Bělá river. Besides Pirochtův Mlýn, the cascade included the Šmelcovna, Klevetův, Lasákův, and Dvořáčkův mills, the Puklův Mlýn, and the Podlesní sawmill. Of all these installations, Pirochtův Mlýn is the only one to have survived in an almost untouched state.

Can visitors go inside?

Since July 14, 2015, the building has been listed as an immovable cultural monument under registry number 105675. The mill no longer operates: it now functions as a private residence, with some rooms used for vegetable storage. The property remains privately owned and is not open to the public, and while its condition is described as satisfactory, the roof and facade show visible wear.

Frequently asked questions

Is Pirochtův Mlýn still a working mill? No. The building now serves as a private home and storage space, and its historic machinery survives purely as a heritage feature.

Can you go inside the mill? No, the building belongs privately to the Piruchta family and is not open for visits.

Where does the mill's name come from? It comes from the Piruchta family (also spelled Pirochta), who have owned the mill since 1927.

How many mills made up the Boskovice cascade? Five mills — Šmelcovna, Klevetův, Lasákův, Dvořáčkův, and Pirochtův — plus two sawmills, spread along a three-kilometer stretch of the Bělá river.

Since when has the mill been a protected monument? Since July 14, 2015, when it was entered into the register of immovable cultural monuments under number 105675.