Starston Wind Pump is a hollow post mill

Post mill

The post mill is the earliest type of European windmill. The defining feature is that the whole body of the mill that houses the machinery is mounted on a single vertical post, around which it can be turned to bring the sails into the wind. The earliest post mills in England are thought to have...

 for pumping water, situated west of the village of Starston in the English

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...

 county

County

A county is a jurisdiction of local government in certain modern nations. Historically in mainland Europe, the original French term, comté, and its equivalents in other languages denoted a jurisdiction under the sovereignty of a count A county is a jurisdiction of local government in certain...

 of 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...

. The Pump is 330 yards away from the parish church of Saint Margaret in Mill Field. The windpump is a Grade II listed building and a scheduled ancient monument

Scheduled Ancient Monument

In the United Kingdom, a scheduled monument is a 'nationally important' archaeological site or historic building, given protection against unauthorized change. The various pieces of legislation used for legally protecting heritage assets from damage and destruction are grouped under the term...

. After some years on the Heritage at Risk Register because of its poor condition, it was restored in 2010.

History

This unusual windmill pump was built c.1850 by the Suffolk Millwrights Whitmore and Binyon and it was built to pump water from the nearby Beck to fill up massive water tanks, one on top of Starston Place house and one in the nearby farmyard of Home Farm. So efficient were the large canvas and wood sails of this little windmill, that although there was a stationary engine which could work the pumps, it was seldom used. However with the installation a piped supply of water to the village and district the use of the pump was discontinued. The tank on top of the house provided the main supply of water for this very large house. The Farmyard tank supplied the water for the 200 head of milking cows and fattening bullocks

Cattle

Cattle are the most common type of large domesticated ungulates. They are a prominent modern member of the subfamily Bovinae, are the most widespread species of the genus Bos, and are most commonly classified collectively as Bos primigenius...

 on the farm, and also for the large herd of pig

Pig

A pig is any of the animals in the genus Sus, within the Suidae family of even-toed ungulates. Pigs include the domestic pig, its ancestor the wild boar, and several other wild relatives...

s that were also kept at Home Farm. Another use for this water was to maintain the level of water in the horse pond from an overflow pipe from the main tank.