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Cream of Barley Mill

Clarington, Italy

Cream of Barley Mill

The Cream of Barley Mill is a historic mill in the town of Bowmanville, Municipality of Clarington, Ontario, Canada. Scottish immigrant John MacKay created a new hot cereal product called "cream of barley". In 1884 he bought the preexisting Caledonia Mill, situated on the banks of Soper Creek on the

outskirts of the town of Bowmanville, to manufacture his product. The mill was originally built in 1805 by Leonard Soper as a grist mill, and was owned and operated by several others before being bought by McKay. McKay designed and installed new equipment for the milling of barley. The cereal became popular, and MacKay's company shipped Cream of Barley throughout Canada and the British Empire. In 1904 the mill burned, and a new brick mill was built to continue manufacturing the cream of barley cereal. A campground and park, aptly named "The Cream of Barley Campground", was developed on land to the north of the millhouse. In about 1922 a petting zoo was added to the park. By 1928 the mill, camp and park (which now included tourist cabins) were owned James Morden and operated by Alfred Shrubb, formerly a world-renowned long distance runner. By 1946 the park included tennis courts. In the...

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