Amidst the Covid waves in February 2021, our small team, under strict protection measures, visited the Great Valley of the Great Waters, where we inspected the geodetic works we had commissioned. The main question was what the chances were of water being drawn from the stream in the shorter stretch before the mill (in the section of the Horváth Balázs bridge) and then gravity fed to the future mill wheel of the Vázsony mill. Unfortunately, the answer soon became clear: it was completely unrealistic, as the difference between the two branches in the section is almost 4 m and the water intake procedure is also sufficiently complicated.
Nagyvázsony - early morning
But how did the water get to the Csurgó mill wheel in the past? The answer could not be answered with absolute certainty during the tour, but we were certainly closer to it and had some ideas for a possible solution.
A long time ago
The 18th century map on the Arcanum portal (picture 1) shows that in the section below the St. John's Bridge in Nagyvázsony, the stream flowed in a single channel for some time and the mill-branch branched off shortly before the mill and returned to the stream shortly after the mill. On the map produced as a result of the third military survey (1869-1887, Habsburg Empire - picture 2), it is clearly visible that the Vázsonyi-Séd stream flows on two branches after the section under the bridge.
1. pic: Nagy Vásony - XVIII. century (Arcanum)
2. pic: Nagy Vázsony - XIX. century (Arcanum)
Designation and denomination
Vázsonyi-séd reaches the stream called Eger-víz, which originates near the village of Öcs, at the border of Pula and Vigántpetend, but on some maps Vázsonyi-séd is also indicated as Eger-víz in the area of Nagyvázsony. Séd is an old Hungarian word meaning stream.
We interpret the mill-branch as a classic "upstream channel", i.e. an artificial branch that covers the same distance (parallel to the original riverbed) with a smaller drop (higher ground level). This has allowed a sufficient difference in level to be created in front of the mill in relation to the original branch, so that the energy of the water's positioning can then bend the mill wheels, i.e. turn them into rotational energy. And shortly below the mill, the mill branch returned to its natural bed.
Recent
Two major works have shaped the water system in the last 100 years. A fish pond was created by a major dam on the outskirts of the settlement, and a fishing pond was created within the settlement more recently.
Fishing pond
Fish pond in the distance
At the end of our walk, we returned to the "mill branch", which is now only the last hundred metres before the mill, which looks something like its former state as a watercourse. It is now heavily overgrown, but at least in this short stretch there is a theoretical chance that it will divert water as an open surface watercourse to the mill wheel, which will be rebuilt.
The Google map clearly shows the last stretch before the mill, which is heavily overgrown with trees.
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