Knowle Mill, better known today as Bembridge Windmill is a Grade I listed tower mill

Tower mill

A tower mill is a type of windmill which consists of a brick or stone tower, on top of which sits a roof or cap which can be turned to bring the sails into the wind....

 at Bembridge

Bembridge

Bembridge is an affluent village and civil parish located on the easternmost point of the Isle of Wight. It had a population of 3,848 according to the 2001 census of the United Kingdom, leading to claims by residents that Bembridge is the largest village in England, and occasional claims that it is...

, Isle of Wight

Isle of Wight

The Isle of Wight is a county and the largest island of England, located in the English Channel, on average about 2–4 miles off the south coast of the county of Hampshire, separated from the mainland by a strait called the Solent...

, England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 which has been preserved.

History

Bembridge Mill was built c1700. It was painted by Turner

J. M. W. Turner

Joseph Mallord William Turner RA was an English Romantic landscape painter, watercolourist and printmaker. Turner was considered a controversial figure in his day, but is now regarded as the artist who elevated landscape painting to an eminence rivalling history painting...

 in 1795. The mill was working by wind until 1915, having only been used for grinding animal feed after 1897. The mill was restored in 1935 and again in 1959, the latter being funded by public subscription. In 1962 the mill was taken over by the National Trust. It has been restored and is open to the public.

Description

Bembridge Mill is a four storey tower mill with a boat shaped cap which is winded by chain and wheel. It has four Common sails. The two pairs of millstone

Millstone

Millstones or mill stones are used in windmills and watermills, including tide mills, for grinding wheat or other grains.The type of stone most suitable for making millstones is a siliceous rock called burrstone , an open-textured, porous but tough, fine-grained sandstone, or a silicified,...

s are driven underdrift.

Public access

Bembridge windmill is open from 11:00 to 17:00 (or dusk if earlier) daily between 14 March and 1 November.

External links

• Bembridge Windmill - official site on National Trust
• Windmill World webpage on Bembridge Mill