Author Archives: Tower Mill

Hempton Green Windmill

Hempton Green Windmill

An old image of Hempton Green Mill in Norfolk. Photographed in the early 1930s.

The tower mill in Hempton Green was built in 1833 and was last worked commercially in 1918. It was demolished at the start of the Second World War, as it was thought that it could be used as a navigation point to locate a nearby airfield. Hempton Green is a small village near Fakenham in Norfolk in the east of England.

Pitstone Windmill

pitsone windmill

A photograph of Pitstone Mill as it looked in the early 1930s.

Pitstone Post Mill dates back to 1627 and as such is the oldest surviving windmill in the British Isles. The mill worked continuously until 1902, when after suffering damage in a storm it fell into a state of disrepair. This can be seen in the image above. It was, however, restored to near working order by a group of volunteers between 1963 and 1970; and is now owned by the National Trust. It is open to the public on Sunday afternoons throughout the summer months.

pitstone wind mill

A view of the early seventeenth century post mill in Pitstone, Bucks. Image provided by Foxhat Property.

Pitstone is a village about seven miles from the town of Aylesbury in the county of Buckinghamshire in the south east of England.

Goffs Oak Mill

Goffs Oak Mill Broxborne

An old phograph of Goffs Oak Tower Mill, near Broxborne, England, c.1910.

The Tower Mill on Newgatestreet Road, Goffs Oak, near Broxborne, Hertfordshire, England was built in the late 1850s to replace an earlier post mill destroyed in a fire. The windmill ceased to operate in the 1890′s, and was demolished by the owner in 1954, so that the bricks could be re-used.

Keston Mill

Keston Mill

A print of a lovely watercolour painting of a farmworker and the mill on Keston Common, Kent.

The post mill in Keston was built in 1716 and is the oldest surviving windmill in the historic county of Kent. The mill is located in the garden of a privately owned house and although the machinery is intact, it is not in working order. Public access is very limited. Details of any open days can be found at: kestonwindmill dot com.

keston windmill

The post mill in Keston, Kent, southeast England, c.1925.

Keston was once a village near Bromley in Kent, south-east England. It is, however, now very much part of the London Borough of Bromley. The mill’s postcode is BR2 6BF.

keston bromley windmill

The early 18th century windmill on Keston Common, Bromley, Kent. c.1910.

National Trust Windmill

nt windmill

The National Trust owned Tower Mill just outside the village of High Ham, near Langport, in Somerset is now open on the 1st and 3rd Sunday of every month between 1pm and 4pm. March to September. Tickets: £4 Adult, £2 Child, National Trust members FREE.

Notes: The mill is located in the grounds of a private home, so parking is limited and no toilets are available to visitors. Access to the four floors of the mill is via rather steep steps.

More about Stembridge Tower Mill.

West Blatchington Mill

west blatchington windmill

A photograph of the Mill in West Blatchington, near Brighton, Sussex, c.1930.

The mill in West Blatchington is a six-sided ‘smock’ mill built in around 1820. It worked until 1897 when the sails were reportedly damaged in a storm. It was purchased in 1937 by the Hove Council and the mill restored. It is now open to the public on Sunday afternoons between May and September. It is located in the village of West Blatchington, near Brighton, in Sussex, England.

Crowland Post Windmill

Crowland Post Mill

A close-up of Crowland Post Windmill as it looked in around 1909.

Crowland Post Mill was built in the late 1790s and worked for just under a hundred years before going out of use. The windmill was burnt down just two year’s after this photograph was taken and no sign of the mill is visible today.

Crowland Windmill

The same early 1900s photographic view of Crowland Windmill. Also visible are Croyland abbey and Postland Road School.

A local newspaper report of 1911 reported on the demise of the mill in this way:

“Gunpowder Plot – Old Mill set on fire. Crowland celebrated ‘Guy Fawkes’ in a lively way on Saturday by setting fire to an old windmill on the Postland road, which though it had been standing idle for nearly twenty years, lovers of the past are sorry to see demolished, and see an old landmark pass into oblivion. The mill was the property of the Rector of Crowland and although a reward has been offered, up to the present the culprit or culprits have not been traced.” (edited)

Crowland is a village located between the large towns of Peterborough and Spalding in Lincolnshire, north-east England.

Foston Post Mill

Foston windmill

A photograph of Foston Post Mill taken in around 1930.

The Post Mill in Foston, Lincolnshire, north-east England, was built in 1624 and is believed to have worked at two separate sites in the village before going out of use at the end of the 19th century. It was sadly demolished in 1966.

Foston is around nine kilometres (six miles) north-west of the town of Grantham.

Sharnbrook Mill

Sharnbook – a Bedfordshire Windmill

Sharnbrook Windmill

A photograph of the windmill in Sharnbrook as it looked in 1929, forty-nine years after it was built.

The tower mill in Sharnbrook, Bedfordshire, England, was erected in 1880 and stopped working only ten years later. By 1920 the sails had been removed and the mill was in a somewhat derelict state. The photograph above shows the condition the windmill was in when photographed in 1929. The mill was converted to living accommodation and the cap removed and replaced with an observatory of sorts in around 1970. A house has been built next to the tower and the entire property is in private ownership.

Stickney Windmill

The five-storey Tower Mill in Stickney was built in 1842 and worked until the late 1960s. In the last few years powered though by electricity rather than wind. In its prime the mill had four patent sails driving three pairs of stones on the second floor, with a further pair of millstones on the first floor driven by engine. The tower still stands and is now used as a store by a nearby engineering works. No milling machinery survives internally.

Stickney Windmill

An old photograph of the mill in Stickney, c.1933.

An old image of the windmill in Stickney, Lincolnshire, north-east England.