I know it's not related, but the location is similar and the details of how the machine is driven reminds me of that hilarious scene in Don Quijote where they can't figure out what's making that noise by the waterfall, and Sancho is just scared to death of whatever horrible thing it could be.

It turns out to be fulling [0] mill hammers, driven by a water wheel. Always cracks me up.

0: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fulling