Wind Pump At Ashtree Farm

The wind pump at Ashtree Farm, built in 1912 by Smithdale of Acle, is a Grade II listed structure. It features a brick, battered circular tower topped with the remains of a weatherboarded cap. The building stands three storeys tall and has two opposing doorways on the ground floor, each with segmental heads, and two window openings on the first floor.

The cap frame includes sheers, a tail beam, a sprattle beam, a headstock, and a cast-iron weatherbeam. There are cast-iron bearers supporting the cap circle and remnants of a weatherboarded petticoat. The wind pump is equipped with worm and cast-iron wormhangers, a set of truck and centering wheels housed in combined casings, and a complete curb and rack made from a two-piece casting.

Additional features include a fan stage, fanframe, fan spindle, gears, and a capstan wheel. It also has a striking rod Y-wheel and carrier, a cast-iron windshaft, a neck bearing block, a brakewheel with a brake collar, and a cast-iron brake arm. The interior contains a cast-iron wallower, a timber upright shaft, a cast-iron crown wheel, a pitwheel, and a horizontal drive shaft leading to an external scoop wheel. This wind pump represents the final development of the East Anglian wind pump.