West Kingsdown Windmill
Encyclopedia
West Kingsdown Windmill is a Grade II listed smock mill
in West Kingsdown
, Kent
, England
that was built in the early nineteenth century at Farningham
and moved to West Kingsdown in 1880. It is the survivor of a pair of windmills.
was originally built at Sevenoaks
. It was built c1792 when miller William Knott leased a piece of ground "with liberty to set up a windmill" and "to pull down and carry away the same". In 1814, Knott bought the property, consisting a house and the "windmill erected by the said William Knott" and 3 acres (1.2 ha) of land for £1000. The mill was standing in 1864 when it was leased by J F Austen to William Eames, Miller at a rate of £
13. 15.s
0d quarterly.
The mill had been moved to West Kingsdown by 1880, when it was joined by the smock mill that was moved from Farningham and which survives today. It was burnt down in May 1909 when a steam roller set fire to some straw near the mill and the fire then spread to the mill.
that was already there. The post mill burnt down in May 1909. The mill was working by wind until 1928. One of the sails was damaged on 25 December 1929 and the fantail
blew off in November 1930. The mill was restored externally in 1960 by Thompson & Son, Millwright
s of Alford, Lincolnshire
at a cost of £4.400. In 2009, repairs to the weatherboards were made, and the mill was repainted. As of November 2010, it is awaiting the fitting of new sails.
West Kingsdown Mill is a four storey smock mill on a single storey single storey brick base. There was a stage at first floor level. It has two double Patent sails and two Common sails carried on a cast iron
windshaft. The mill is winded by a fantail
. The original fantail had seven blades, but this was replaced with a six bladed one when the mill was restored in 1960. A seven bladed fantail has since been fitted. All the machinery remains in the mill, except for the final drive to the millstone
s.
West Kingsdown
West Kingsdown
References for above:-
Smock mill
The smock mill is a type of windmill that consists of a sloping, horizontally weatherboarded tower, usually with six or eight sides. It is topped with a roof or cap that rotates to bring the sails into the wind...
in West Kingsdown
West Kingsdown
West Kingsdown is a village and civil parish in the Sevenoaks District of Kent, England. The parish is located on the North Downs, north of Sevenoaks town, within the London Commuter Belt...
, Kent
Kent
Kent is a county in southeast England, and is one of the home counties. It borders East Sussex, Surrey and Greater London and has a defined boundary with Essex in the middle of the Thames Estuary. The ceremonial county boundaries of Kent include the shire county of Kent and the unitary borough of...
, 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...
that was built in the early nineteenth century at Farningham
Farningham
Farningham is a village and civil parish in the Sevenoaks District of Kent in England. It is located on the River Darent, south of Dartford, and has a population of 1,289...
and moved to West Kingsdown in 1880. It is the survivor of a pair of windmills.
Post mill
The post millPost 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...
was originally built at Sevenoaks
Sevenoaks
Sevenoaks is a commuter town situated on the London fringe of west Kent, England, some 20 miles south-east of Charing Cross, on one of the principal commuter rail lines from the capital...
. It was built c1792 when miller William Knott leased a piece of ground "with liberty to set up a windmill" and "to pull down and carry away the same". In 1814, Knott bought the property, consisting a house and the "windmill erected by the said William Knott" and 3 acres (1.2 ha) of land for £1000. The mill was standing in 1864 when it was leased by J F Austen to William Eames, Miller at a rate of £
Pound sterling
The pound sterling , commonly called the pound, is the official currency of the United Kingdom, its Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, British Antarctic Territory and Tristan da Cunha. It is subdivided into 100 pence...
13. 15.s
Shilling
The shilling is a unit of currency used in some current and former British Commonwealth countries. The word shilling comes from scilling, an accounting term that dates back to Anglo-Saxon times where it was deemed to be the value of a cow in Kent or a sheep elsewhere. The word is thought to derive...
0d quarterly.
The mill had been moved to West Kingsdown by 1880, when it was joined by the smock mill that was moved from Farningham and which survives today. It was burnt down in May 1909 when a steam roller set fire to some straw near the mill and the fire then spread to the mill.
Smock mill
West Kingsdown Windmill was built in the early nineteenth century at Chimham's Farm, Farningham. It was marked on Greenwoods map of 1821 and the Farningham Tithe Map of 1840. In 1880, it was moved to West Kingsdown, joining a post millPost 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...
that was already there. The post mill burnt down in May 1909. The mill was working by wind until 1928. One of the sails was damaged on 25 December 1929 and the fantail
Windmill fantail
A Fantail is a small windmill mounted at right angles to the sails, at the rear of the windmill, and which turns the cap automatically to bring it into the wind. The fantail was patented in 1745 by Edmund Lee, a blacksmith working at Brockmill Forge near Wigan, England, and perfected on mills...
blew off in November 1930. The mill was restored externally in 1960 by Thompson & Son, Millwright
Millwright
A millwright is a craftsman or tradesman engaged with the construction and maintenance of machinery.Early millwrights were specialist carpenters who erected machines used in agriculture, food processing and processing lumber and paper...
s of Alford, Lincolnshire
Alford, Lincolnshire
- Notable residents :* Captain John Smith who lived in nearby Willoughby* Anne Hutchinson, pioneer settler and religious reformer in the United States* Thomas Paine, who was an excise officer in the town....
at a cost of £4.400. In 2009, repairs to the weatherboards were made, and the mill was repainted. As of November 2010, it is awaiting the fitting of new sails.
Post mill
Old Mill was a post mill on a single storey roundhouse. It was winded by a tailpole. It had two Spring sails and two Common Sails carried on a cast iron windshaft.Smock Mill
Cast iron
Cast iron is derived from pig iron, and while it usually refers to gray iron, it also identifies a large group of ferrous alloys which solidify with a eutectic. The color of a fractured surface can be used to identify an alloy. White cast iron is named after its white surface when fractured, due...
windshaft. The mill is winded by a fantail
Windmill fantail
A Fantail is a small windmill mounted at right angles to the sails, at the rear of the windmill, and which turns the cap automatically to bring it into the wind. The fantail was patented in 1745 by Edmund Lee, a blacksmith working at Brockmill Forge near Wigan, England, and perfected on mills...
. The original fantail had seven blades, but this was replaced with a six bladed one when the mill was restored in 1960. A seven bladed fantail has since been fitted. All the machinery remains in the mill, except for the final drive to the 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.
Post mill
Sevenoaks- William Knott 1792 - 1814
- Charles Knott - 1864
- William Eames 1864-
West Kingsdown
- Tanner Norton 1880-
Smock mill
Farningham- Collyer 1826 - 1850
- William Kipping 1840
- W Moore
- David Norton
- Tanner Norton - 1880
West Kingsdown
- Tanner Norton 1880 -
- Frank Norton
- Cork 1929
- Hankin
References for above:-
External links
- Windmill World page on the mill.