Windmill Hill Mill, Herstmonceux
Encyclopedia
Windmill Hill Mill is a grade II* listed post mill
at Herstmonceux
, Sussex
, England
which has been restored.
millwright
. It was working by wind until 1893, when it was stopped owing to a weak weatherbeam. It is the largest post mill in Sussex, and is unique in that it is fitted with Hammond's Patent Sweep Governor, a feature previously fitted to Jack Mill, Clayton
.
Milling was continued after work by wind ceased by means of a steam powered mill set up in the roundhouse. Neve, the Warbleton
millwright was responsible for the fitting out of the roundhouse as a power mill. The mill stood derelict for many years, with major structural faults including both side girts being broken.
agreed in principle to support the restoration work. English Heritage
funded the study to produce an application for lottery funds to restore the mill. A detailed study of the mill was made in the summer of 2000. IJP Millwrights of Binfield Heath
were contracted to restore the mill. A grant of £570,000 towards a total retoration cost of £770,000 was made in December 2001, this being the biggest single Lottery grant to an individual windmill. The mill was dismantled during November and December 2003, and taken in sections to IJP's workshops. Modern millwrighting techniques, including CAD
were used in the assessment of the structure of the mill in preparation for the rebuild. It was found that one of the quarterbars in the trestle
would need to be replaced due to damage done by Death Watch Beetle
s.
The rebuilt frame of the mill was lifted back onto the main post on 7 September 2004. The sails were fitted to the mill between 24 November and 3 December 2005.
carried on a cast iron
Windshaft and was winded by a tailpole. Winding is now computer
controlled, with an Automatic Turning Device installed that receives information about the wind direction from sensors mounted on the mill. The wooden brake wheel is of clasp arm construction, with oak
arms and an elm
rim. It has 104 cogs and drives a Stone Nut with 12 cogs. The tail wheel is of cast iron, with 130 cogs. The mill drove two pairs of millstone
s, arranged Head and Tail. The headstones are Peak stones and the tai stones are French Burrs. The body of Windmill Hill Mill is 21 in 3 in (6.48 m) long and 12 in 3 in (3.73 m) wide. Thus making this the largest surviving post mill by floor plan in the United Kingdom. The mill is 50 in 10 in (15.49 m) high to the roof, which makes it the second tallest post mill in England. The roundhouse is 22 in 6 in (6.86 m) diameter and has a single storey lean to extension for part of its circumference. When originally built, the mill may have had a single storey roundhouse, being raised by a storey in the 1870s when Hammond's Sweep Governor was fitted.
References for above:-
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...
at Herstmonceux
Herstmonceux
Herstmonceux is a village and civil parish in the Wealden District of East Sussex, England. The parish includes Herstmonceux Castle, the village of Cowbeech and a number of smaller hamlets.-History:...
, Sussex
Sussex
Sussex , from the Old English Sūþsēaxe , is an historic county in South East England corresponding roughly in area to the ancient Kingdom of Sussex. It is bounded on the north by Surrey, east by Kent, south by the English Channel, and west by Hampshire, and is divided for local government into West...
, 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 restored.
History
Windmill Hill Mill was built c.1814 by Samuel Medhurst, the LewesLewes
Lewes is the county town of East Sussex, England and historically of all of Sussex. It is a civil parish and is the centre of the Lewes local government district. The settlement has a history as a bridging point and as a market town, and today as a communications hub and tourist-oriented town...
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...
. It was working by wind until 1893, when it was stopped owing to a weak weatherbeam. It is the largest post mill in Sussex, and is unique in that it is fitted with Hammond's Patent Sweep Governor, a feature previously fitted to Jack Mill, Clayton
Clayton Windmills
The Clayton Windmills, known locally as Jack and Jill, stand on the South Downs above the village of Clayton, West Sussex, England. They comprise a post mill and a tower mill, and the roundhouse of a former post mill. All three are Grade II* listed buildings....
.
Milling was continued after work by wind ceased by means of a steam powered mill set up in the roundhouse. Neve, the Warbleton
Warbleton
Warbleton is a civil parish in the Wealden District of East Sussex, England. Within its bounds are four settlements, one of which gives its name to the parish. It is located south-east of Heathfield on the slopes of the Weald.-History:...
millwright was responsible for the fitting out of the roundhouse as a power mill. The mill stood derelict for many years, with major structural faults including both side girts being broken.
Restoration
In 1994, a supporting steel framework was placed around the mill, and the remaining iron sheeting that clad the breast and sides of the mill removed. The tail of the mill was clad in plywood to keep the weather out. A trust was set up in 1995, aiming to prevent further deterioration in the condition of the mill, and to assess options for restoration. The Heritage Lottery FundHeritage 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...
agreed in principle to support the restoration work. English Heritage
English Heritage
English Heritage . is an executive non-departmental public body of the British Government sponsored by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport...
funded the study to produce an application for lottery funds to restore the mill. A detailed study of the mill was made in the summer of 2000. IJP Millwrights of Binfield Heath
Binfield Heath
Binfield Heath is a village and civil parish in South Oxfordshire, England. It is about southwest of Henley-on-Thames and about northeast of Reading, Berkshire.Until 2003, Binfield Heath and the hamlet of Crowsley were part of the civil parish of Shiplake....
were contracted to restore the mill. A grant of £570,000 towards a total retoration cost of £770,000 was made in December 2001, this being the biggest single Lottery grant to an individual windmill. The mill was dismantled during November and December 2003, and taken in sections to IJP's workshops. Modern millwrighting techniques, including CAD
Computer-aided diagnosis
Computer-aided detection and computer-aided diagnosis are procedures in medicine that assist doctors in the interpretation of medical images. Imaging techniques in X-ray, MRI, and Ultrasound diagnostics yield a great deal of information, which the radiologist has to analyze and evaluate...
were used in the assessment of the structure of the mill in preparation for the rebuild. It was found that one of the quarterbars in the trestle
Trestle (mill)
The Trestle of a Post mill is the arrangement of the Main post, crosstrees and quarterbars that form the substructure of this type of windmill. It may or may not be surrounded by a roundhouse...
would need to be replaced due to damage done by Death Watch Beetle
Death watch beetle
The death watch beetle, Xestobium rufovillosum, is a woodboring beetle. The adult beetle is long, while the xylophagous larvae are up to long....
s.
The rebuilt frame of the mill was lifted back onto the main post on 7 September 2004. The sails were fitted to the mill between 24 November and 3 December 2005.
Description
Windmill Hill Mill is a post mill on a two storey roundhouse. She has four Patent SailsWindmill sail
Windmills are powered by their sails. Sails are found in different designs, from primitive common sails to the advanced patent sails.-Jib sails:...
carried on a cast iron
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 and was winded by a tailpole. Winding is now computer
Computer
A computer is a programmable machine designed to sequentially and automatically carry out a sequence of arithmetic or logical operations. The particular sequence of operations can be changed readily, allowing the computer to solve more than one kind of problem...
controlled, with an Automatic Turning Device installed that receives information about the wind direction from sensors mounted on the mill. The wooden brake wheel is of clasp arm construction, with oak
Oak
An oak is a tree or shrub in the genus Quercus , of which about 600 species exist. "Oak" may also appear in the names of species in related genera, notably Lithocarpus...
arms and an elm
Elm
Elms are deciduous and semi-deciduous trees comprising the genus Ulmus in the plant family Ulmaceae. The dozens of species are found in temperate and tropical-montane regions of North America and Eurasia, ranging southward into Indonesia. Elms are components of many kinds of natural forests...
rim. It has 104 cogs and drives a Stone Nut with 12 cogs. The tail wheel is of cast iron, with 130 cogs. The mill drove 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, arranged Head and Tail. The headstones are Peak stones and the tai stones are French Burrs. The body of Windmill Hill Mill is 21 in 3 in (6.48 m) long and 12 in 3 in (3.73 m) wide. Thus making this the largest surviving post mill by floor plan in the United Kingdom. The mill is 50 in 10 in (15.49 m) high to the roof, which makes it the second tallest post mill in England. The roundhouse is 22 in 6 in (6.86 m) diameter and has a single storey lean to extension for part of its circumference. When originally built, the mill may have had a single storey roundhouse, being raised by a storey in the 1870s when Hammond's Sweep Governor was fitted.
Millers
- Beeney 1845 - 1877
- Charles Edwin Hammond 1878 - 1887
- Henry Harmer 1887 - 1913
References for above:-
External links
- Windmill World Page on Windmill Hill Mill.
- Windmill Hill Windmill Trust website.
- Hammond's Patent Sweep Governor