King's Windmill is a Grade II* listed building in the Horsham local planning authority area, England. Smock mill, engine house. 1 related planning application.
King's Windmill
- WRENN ID
- knotted-pedestal-crag
- Grade
- II*
- Local Planning Authority
- Horsham
- Constituency
- Horsham MP: John Milne (LD)
- Country
- England
- Type
- Smock mill, engine house
- Address
- King's Windmill, Shipley, RH13 8PL
- OS grid reference
- TQ 143 218
- Coordinates
- 50.98489, -0.37263
- Source
- Historic England listing
Description
King's Windmill is a smock mill and engine house located in Shipley Village, built in 1879 for Mr. Friend Marten by Grist and Steel, millwrights from Horsham, with the engine house added in 1880. The corn mill is four storeys high and features an octagonal "roundhouse" made of tarred weather-boarding. Above this, there is a platform supported by diagonal struts, and the upper storeys are also faced with weather-boarding. The mill has a pointed hexagonal cap topped with a ball finial, and both the sweeps and the fantail are intact.
The attached engine house is a single storey structure made of corrugated iron on a wooden frame, featuring a partially gabled and partially hipped corrugated iron roof and casement windows. Although the steam engine is no longer present, a water pump remains. This windmill is a notable example of a smock mill still in working order and is recognized as the most recent and largest windmill in Sussex. The engine house has always been an essential part of the mill's history and was constructed shortly after the windmill was completed in 1880.
Two inscriptions can be found over a window on the second floor of the mill, stating "Engine started January 6th 1880" and "First day new engine October 20th 1880." The steam engine played a crucial role in the mill's operation due to the site's less than ideal wind-catching conditions. In 1906, the mill was purchased by the author Hilaire Belloc, who owned it until his death in 1953. The mill continued to operate until 1926, when the engine was removed.
Local climate
King's Windmill receives an average of 750 mm of rain a year. This makes it drier than 72% of listed buildings in the UK. Its exposure to wind-driven rain is greater than that of 64% of listed buildings.
It experiences an average of 29 freeze-thaw cycles a year, fewer than 68% of listed buildings. Of these, 12 follow at least 1 mm of rain in the preceding 48 hours. Average temperatures at this location have risen by 0.3°C per decade since 1991.
Averages for 1991–2020; temperature trend 1991–2025. Figures describe the wider area (a grid cell of roughly 10 km), not the individual site. Contains modified Copernicus Climate Change Service information 2026.
More on this building
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- No EPC on record for this property
- No sale records on file
- Related listed building consents — 1 application
- Detailed attributes — period, style, materials, features
- Flood risk assessment
- Radon risk assessment
- Weather exposure and heating demand — rain and frost month by month and year by year, wind direction, solar and humidity
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