Holgate Windmill

Holgate Windmill is a disused wind-powered corn mill located in York, built between 1770 and 1792 on a site that has had windmills since the 15th century. It was repaired in 1939 after milling activities ceased. The mill is constructed of brick, painted with bitumen, and features a cap covered with painted steel plates.

The structure is circular and stands five storeys high, with a battered design up to the third stage. At ground level, there are doorways with segmental arches on the west and east sides, although the western doorway is now blocked internally. Most of the windows have segmental heads, and there are blocked ground-floor windows to the left of each doorway. The upper storeys feature six staggered windows. The brickwork is corbelled beneath the round cap, which is topped with a ball finial.

Holgate Windmill was unique for having five sails, which were removed after gale damage in 1930, leaving only the wooden stocks. The fantail was also taken down, but the projecting main timbers remain.

Inside, the mill has plastered internal walls, softwood ladders, and four upper floors with pine beams and stop-chamfered joists, although the floorboards have been removed. The machinery is largely intact, including a pair of gritstone millstones, a second pair of French Burr stones, an iron main drive, and stone-nuts with a metal frame carrying wooden cogs. This windmill is the last surviving example of the many that once operated around the City of York.