Stanford Windmill

Tower mill built in 1851 by the millwright, John Hill of Ashford.

MATERIALS: yellow and pale red stock brick laid in English bond. The upper level retains the tarred finish which has been removed from the base.

PLAN: cylindrical base containing the first two floors and a tapering upper section surmounted by a timber-framed, boat-shaped cap.

EXTERIOR: the lower part has eight, two-stage buttresses with sandstone capping which formerly supported the timber gallery (or stage) at second-floor level. The cap has corrugated asbestos-cement cladding and the sweeps and fanstage have been removed. The fenestration is of small four-centred arched windows with sandstone stone sills and brick ’eyebrow’ drip mouldings. The openings contain cast-iron casements, those to the lower floors with twelve panes, the upper ones having nine. The ground floor entrance is to the north and has a shallow brick arch and a batten door. There were additional doors at first and second floor level. The first-floor door was for hoisting grain sacks and the opposed second-floor doors gave access to the gallery. The first-floor door survives, the two second-floor doors have been converted to windows with square-headed timber casements.

INTERIOR: the mill has five floors. These include, from the top, the Dust floor, Bin floor, Stone floor and Spout floor. The floors are supported on heavy frames of Baltic pine, the Stone floor being reinforced with iron stanchions. One of the beams supporting the Stone floor bears the inscription ‘ BUILT BY/ JOHN HOGBEN/ HILL MAY 1851 MILLWht’. Each floor has a sack hoist trapdoor set vertically above the ones below.

MACHINERY: although incomplete, significant surviving elements of the machinery remain. These include the curb (circular track on which the cap rotates); the brake wheel and wind shaft; wallower; upright shaft; great spur wheel and stone and machine nuts and shafts; tentering gear and grain/meal/dresser bins and chutes. Most of the machinery is of cast-iron. Two pairs of millstones remain, one of flinty quartz (French Burr) for flour and one of Millstone Grit (Derbyshire Peak) for animal feed. The enclosing timber tuns and hoppers have been lost.

The windmill is adjoined by a brick wall and arch connecting it to a modern house to the east. A relocated K6 telephone kiosk is located at the foot of the windmill to the north-west. All these structures are excluded from the listing.