Atreadwheel, ortreadmill, is a form ofengine typically powered by humans. It may resemble awater wheel in appearance, and can be worked either by a human treading paddles set into its circumference (treadmill), or by a human or animal standing inside it (treadwheel). These devices are no longer used for power or punishment, and the term "treadmill" has come to mean anexercise machine for running, walking or other exercises in place.
Uses of treadwheels included raising water, topower cranes, or grind grain. They were used extensively in the Greek and Roman world, such as in thereverse overshot water-wheel used for dewatering purposes. They were widely used in theMiddle Ages to lift the stones in the construction ofGothic cathedrals. There is a literary reference to one in 1225,[1] and onetreadwheel crane survives atChesterfield, Derbyshire and is housed in the Museum. It has been dated to the early 14th century and was housed in the top of the church tower until its removal in 1947.[2] They were used extensively in theRenaissance famously byBrunelleschi during the construction ofFlorence cathedral.
Penal treadmills were used inprisons during the early Victorian period in theUK as a form of punishment. According toThe Times in 1827, and reprinted inWilliam Hone'sTable-Book in 1838, the amount prisoners walked per day on average varied, from the equivalent of 6,600 vertical feet atLewes to as much as 17,000 vertical feet in ten hours during the summertime atWarwick gaol.[3] In 1902, the British government banned the use of the treadwheel as a form of punishment.[4]
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