Moulton Windmill
Encyclopedia
Lincolnshire
Lincolnshire is a county in the east of England. It borders Norfolk to the south east, Cambridgeshire to the south, Rutland to the south west, Leicestershire and Nottinghamshire to the west, South Yorkshire to the north west, and the East Riding of Yorkshire to the north. It also borders...
village of Moulton
Moulton, Lincolnshire
Moulton is the primary village of an extensive Fenland parish, over in length, and encompassing the smaller hamlets/villages of Moulton Chapel, Moulton Seas End and Moulton Eaugate....
, between Spalding
Spalding, Lincolnshire
Spalding is a market town with a population of 30,000 on the River Welland in the South Holland district of Lincolnshire, England. Little London is a hamlet directly south of Spalding on the B1172 road....
and Holbeach
Holbeach
Holbeach is a fenland market town with in the South Holland district of southern Lincolnshire, England. The town lies from Spalding; from Boston; from King's Lynn; from Peterborough; and a by road from the county town of Lincoln. It is on the junction of the A151 and A17...
is a restored windmill claimed to be the tallest 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....
in the United Kingdom.
The nine-storeyed mill is 80 ft (24.4 metres) to the curb and 100 ft (29.6 metres) to top of the ogee
Ogee
An ogee is a curve , shaped somewhat like an S, consisting of two arcs that curve in opposite senses, so that the ends are parallel....
cap. In full working order again with its (or her) four patent sails on, Moulton mill is the tallest working windmill in Great Britain and one of the tallest worldwide. (The 9-storey tower windmill at Sutton
Sutton, Norfolk
Sutton is a village in the English county of Norfolk. It lies next to the Norfolk Broads , about 16 miles north-east of Norwich on the A149 road, adjacent to the slightly larger market town of Stalham.Sutton has a Post Office, public house and hotel, primary...
, near Stalham
Stalham
Stalham is a market town on the River Ant in the English county of Norfolk, in East Anglia. It covers an area of and had a population of 2,951 in 1,333 households as of the 2001 census. It lies within the Norfolk Broads, about north-east of Norwich on the A149 road.For the purposes of local...
, Norfolk
Norfolk
Norfolk is a low-lying county in the East of England. It has borders with Lincolnshire to the west, Cambridgeshire to the west and southwest and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the North Sea coast and to the north-west the county is bordered by The Wash. The county...
has about 67 ft 6 in to the curb, 79 ft 6 in to the top of the Norfolk boat-shaped cap).
The mill, built in circa 1822 by Robert King, was a fully functioning windmill, grinding wheat and other products. However, on 20 December 1894, the sails were damaged in a harsh gale and were removed in 1895. Soon afterwards, a steam system was installed to power the mill. A. W. Tindall leased it from the King family from 1890 until 1921. The Biggadike family, who took over tenancy of the mill in 1924 continued to mill, albeit small quantities of animal feed, until 1995.
A local campaign was established to restore the Grade I listed mill to full working condition. In 2003, the mill featured on the first series of BBC2's Restoration with Tim Wonnacott
Tim Wonnacott
Tim Wonnacott is a Chartered Auctioneer, Chartered Surveyor English antiques expert, television presenter. He has been Director of one of the world's oldest auction houses, Sotheby's...
as its Celebrity Advocate. The project won a large Heritage Lottery Fund
Heritage Lottery Fund
The Heritage Lottery Fund is a fund established in the United Kingdom under the National Lottery etc. Act 1993. The Fund opened for applications in 1994. It uses money raised through the National Lottery to transform and sustain the UK’s heritage...
grant, which, along with many fundraising events has meant that the "Friends of Moulton Mill" campaign has succeeded in raising enough money to restore and refurbish the mill's structure and add a new cap. The new white ogee cap, (which weighs 14 ton) is visible for miles across the flat Fenland
Fenland
Fenland is a local government district in Cambridgeshire, England. Its council is based in March, and covers the neighbouring market towns of Chatteris, Whittlesey, and Wisbech, often called the "capital of the fens"...
landscape. A café and shop has also been built, and the mill has disabled access, allowing disabled visitors to see some of the mill's inner workings. The Friends of Moulton Mill have encouraged local people to "sponsor" a sail shutter. In March 2007, the mill ground flour again.
The reefing gallery, an external balcony which is 40ft from the ground, was restored in June 2008.
New sails were fitted on 21 November 2011 to complete the restoration of the mill. The community restoration took 14 years to complete at a cost of nearly £2m.
