Hi, I’m Mitsjol.

I’m still pretty new to the world of OpenStreetMap and this is my first diary entry here. Currently, I’m primarily focused on adding details to my charming hometown of Middelburg.

Recently, I stumbled upon a millstone in my hometown. This millstone, a large round stone once used for grinding grain, caught my attention and I wanted to add it to OSM. However, when I tried to add it to, I faced a challenge - there was no fitting tag to accurately represent it.

This got me thinking. How many other millstones around the world are missing from the map simply because there isn’t a dedicated tag for them? There must be a lot, because I’ve also seen them during travels. For instance, in the UK’s Peak District alone, there are estimated to be around 1,500 millstones scattered throughout the landscape.

So I took a significant step in contributing to the OpenStreetMap community by proposing the addition of a new tag - “historic=millstone” on the OpenStreetMap Wiki.

I decided to use “historic=millstone” as the primary tag, although I considered “man_made=millstone” with an optional “historic=yes” tag as an alternative. However, I believe that “historic=millstone” is more accurate and relevant for the majority of millstones that we encounter on the map. Not many new millstones are made in this day and age.

I provided examples from various parts of the world to illustrate the diversity and ubiquity of millstones. From Ireland to Japan, these stones can be found all over the world.

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