Ruins of a tower between Hontanas and Castrojeriz

[Bert45]

Can you tell me anything about the structure in my photograph? What was it part of, when was it built? that sort of thing. Thanks.

 

[J Willhaus]

In the Brierly guidebook it intimates that it is part of the ruins of a mill. Another source says the ruins were from Molino de Cubo and part of the village of San Miguel.

 

[Pilgrim9]

The mysterious tower is at
(42.3108327, -4.0686831)

In my overstimulated imagination, it was attached to a rural residence, and the little porthole near the top enabled the country folk who lived there to sit inside and keep an eye on the doings of the big city folk in Hontanas, without themselves being seen.

 

[Bert45]

Hmm. A village called San Miguel? I'd expect more ruins. A mill? I'm ruling nothing out. I wish (just a bit) that I'd walked the 'real' camino from Hontanas to Castrojeriz, rather than taking the easy route along the smooth, level, tarmac road. [Don't condemn me! I walked the real, i.e. signposted, camino in 2003, but I was using film in those days, and probably felt I could not spare a frame for that structure.] I could have had a closer look at the tower. Is it a tower, even? It seems too small in width (both ways) to have a staircase within it. It cannot be a water mill, as there is no stream nearby. Windmills are not common round there – at least, I've never seen one.

 

[Kathar1na]

Erm ... everybody can see that that's not the ruins of a mill in the photo, whether water or wind driven.

Brierley merely writes that the path takes you past the ruins of an old mill and the ruins of an abandoned (medieval) village called San Miguel. He does not say whether he saw either of them and how close they are together but he probably noticed what's left of the church tower. Who doesn't? The website of the town of Hontanas has photos of both ruins - the mill and the tower.

 

[Pilgrim9]

The tower might have served a mundane purpose such as, for example, anchoring overhead electrical cables and feeding them down (inside the tower) to a transformer or switchgear housed in a small attached stone cabin. That would be consistent with the compact footprint of the building rubble seen in overhead view.

I have seen in northern Spain similar narrow stone towers that are actually electrical system structures, including one in 2017 about 500 metres north of the CF somewhere along the meseta high ground, just before the CF descended into one of the river valleys. When I walked by the site in 2022 the stone tower had been razed and replaced by a steel tower.

 

[Bert45]

It seems there are two streams near to the tower (Garbanzuelo and Valderubaya), but not near enough for the tower to be part of a water-mill. Google Maps marks the tower "Ruinas de una torre".
I've looked for the website of Hontanas. Found this: https://www.hontanas.es/inicio . Clicked on 'Galería de Imágines.' Two photos! Both of the church. Hardly what I'd call a 'Gallery'. So I clicked on 'Lugares de Interés. I found Molino del Cubo, a photo of mill wheels covered in 15cms of snow - ver mas - click - a map! A marker on Calle Manzana. Then I went to Iglesia de San Vicente - ver mas - a map! A marker on Calle Manzana – the same place! Nobody's prefect, I always say . In fact, all 6 places of interest are in the same place on the map. But I'll take "Ruins of the Church of San Vicente" as my caption. It's quite a long way from Hontanas, though. Was it the church of the village of San Miguel? Wait a minute! That doesn't make sense! The church of the village of San Miguel would surely be dedicated to San Miguel. There are three more photos that I didn't see at first. One makes it clear that the 'tower' is solid, and a description, translated, reveals: "These are the remains of the church of an ancient medieval village, which still preserves a corner wall." So it was a buttress, I think. I read that word somewhere in the last few hours, in connection with this topic, but I can't remember where.

 

[Rick of Rick and Peg]

It cannot be a water mill, as there is no stream nearby. Windmills are not common round there – at least, I've never seen one.

Horse mill - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[Bert45]

Horse mill - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

It is significant, perhaps, that the road leading out of Hontanas towards the Camino Santiago Francés is named as Camino del Cubo. 'Cubo' means 'mill-pond' (among other things) which ties in with 'Molino del Cubo' on the Hontanas website. So, although the 'tower' is some distance from a stream, the molino must have been on one of the streams.

 

[J Willhaus]

Question: @Bert45 you are often asking questions about specific places and sites. Are you a historian or just really interested in history of the places on the Camino.

 

[Bert45]

Question: @Bert45 you are often asking questions about specific places and sites. Are you a historian or just really interested in history of the places on the Camino.

I am not a historian. I have taken thousands of photos on my caminos. I like to caption them with information about the subject of the photo. I sometimes get the information I need from something displayed next to the subject, sometimes I get information from the internet. Unfortunately, it seems that, if I look at two results from a Google search, the information is different, like with the Casa de Tejada. Then I turn to the forum. I also turn to the forum if I cannot find any information on the internet. This was a case where I couldn't find any information about the 'tower' on the internet. But I wasn't looking in the right place. The information is there, on the Hontanas website, but I might not have found it, even then. Because of the photos, I suppose you could say I'm really interested in the history of places on the internet.

 

[mattythedog]

Hmm. A village called San Miguel? I'd expect more ruins. A mill? I'm ruling nothing out. I wish (just a bit) that I'd walked the 'real' camino from Hontanas to Castrojeriz, rather than taking the easy route along the smooth, level, tarmac road. [Don't condemn me! I walked the real, i.e. signposted, camino in 2003, but I was using film in those days, and probably felt I could not spare a frame for that structure.] I could have had a closer look at the tower. Is it a tower, even? It seems too small in width (both ways) to have a staircase within it. It cannot be a water mill, as there is no stream nearby. Windmills are not common round there – at least, I've never seen one.

Mills are not all powered by wind or water. Humans and animals can be used.

 

[Kathar1na]

It is significant, perhaps, that the road leading out of Hontanas towards the Camino Santiago Francés is named as Camino del Cubo. 'Cubo' means 'mill-pond' (among other things) which ties in with 'Molino del Cubo' on the Hontanas website. So, although the 'tower' is some distance from a stream, the molino must have been on one of the streams.

Somebody on Wikiloc has a good photo of the ruins of the mill. (I don't recall that we saw it. We certainly did not see the millstones). It is next to the stream called Garbanzuelo. You can see the location in Google Earth. It is to the left of the Camino de Santiago. Apparently, the millpond has disappeared but its dam can still be seen.


Source: https://es.wikiloc.com/rutas-sender...z-camino-de-santiago-157845115/photo-99054274