STROOD TIDE MILL
Strood tide mill 1732

Stroud (Strood) tide mill 1732
Detail from 'A view from Rochester Bridge'
(Scott delin. Livesay fecit)
Published Nov. 27th, 1781 by Richard Livesay at Mrs. Hogarth's, Leicester Fields.
(From a sketch made by the painter Samuel Scott on 28 May 1732)

Tide mills have existed since at least Roman times.  They work by trapping water in a pond or lagoon at high tide and slowly releasing it at low tide to drive a water wheel which drives a mill stone or other mechanism.
The Strood tide mill was first recorded in the 17th century but is likely to be much older.  By the 19th century the mill was also driven by a steam engine before eventually closing.