Windmill

A former tower windmill, built in 1840 and disused by the 1920s. It was converted into a dwelling in the 1970s when it was incorporated into an extended bungalow of the 1930s.

MATERIALS: the windmill is constructed of red and purple brick laid in Flemish bond, with some vestigial tar attached to the bricks in places, and a 1970s fibreglass cap impregnated with copper.

PLAN: a tapering tower windmill, approximately the eastern third of which lies within an ‘L’ shaped 1970s extension to the bungalow.

EXTERIOR: the windmill has four floors; each floor has window openings beneath elliptical brick heads. There are ground floor door openings to the north, east and south and a first-floor taking-in door to the east; all of the external openings have late-C20 fenestration. The round cap is of the late C20, but is said to replicate the form of the original. Surmounted by a ball finial, glazing is inserted at the breast and tail elevations where the sails and fantail gearing would have been attached in the original structure.

INTERIOR: the windmill floor frames remain, including substantial bridging beams and some early-C19 joists; others were replaced in the late C20. The great spur wheel with timber teeth remains on the first (former stones) floor, supported on a substantial timber trestle, with part of the drive to the stones apparent. On the third floor the curb to the cap survives attached to a pegged and jointed timber plate. Two sets of wheels on timber mountings, by which the cap was rotated, are present; the timber frame has carpenters marks, but the joists are late C20. The fourth floor accesses the cap space where extensive glazing gives views across the surrounding countryside.

The attached bungalow, its extensions, car port and annexe have no architectural and historic interest and are excluded from the listing.