Ballycopeland Windmill, Moss Road, Ballycopeland, Millisle, Newtownards, Co. Down, BT22 2D? is a listed building in the Ards and North Down local planning authority area, Northern Ireland.
Ballycopeland Windmill, Moss Road, Ballycopeland, Millisle, Newtownards, Co. Down, BT22 2D?
- WRENN ID
- shifting-rood-lark
- Grade
- Local Planning Authority
- Ards and North Down
- Constituency
- North Down MP: Alex Easton (Ind)
- Country
- Northern Ireland
- Irish grid reference
- J 579 760
- Coordinates
- 54.60778, -5.55634
- Source
- NI Environment Agency listing
Description
Ballycopeland Windmill is a four-storey windmill dating to the 1780s, situated on the north side of Moss Road, approximately one mile west of Millisle. It is a fully operational and faithfully restored example of its type, and the only windmill still working in County Down.
The windmill tower measures approximately 10.2 metres in height to the curb and 6.8 metres in diameter, with walls about 0.75 metres thick. The exterior is finished in rough cast, featuring six small windows and two ground-floor doorways. A flue is located on the south side at first-floor level, leading to a rubble-built dust house attached to the tower's ground floor, used for removing husks. The roof is lead sheeted, and equipped with sails and a fan tail.
To the south of the windmill stands a long, single-storey building. Originally the miller’s house and drying kiln, it has been restored and now serves as a visitor centre and museum. The windmill is believed to have been constructed around 1785, possibly by George Bennett. It was subsequently owned and operated by the McGilton family until its closure in 1915. The site came into the care of the Northern Ireland government in the 1950s and underwent full restoration. Comprehensive plans and details of the windmill’s internal workings are documented in E.R.R. Green’s 'The industrial archaeology of Co. Down' (HMSO 1963). Historical records, including valuation records, Ordnance Survey Maps, and memoirs, provide further details about the windmill’s history and ownership. The site holds industrial archaeological interest and is open to the public.
Local climate
Ballycopeland Windmill, Moss Road, Ballycopeland, Millisle, Newtownards, Co. Down, BT22 2D? sits in a wetter-than-average part of the UK, with an average of 1,130 mm of rain a year. This makes it wetter than 88% of listed buildings in the UK. Its exposure to wind-driven rain is greater than that of 94% of listed buildings.
It experiences an average of 1 freeze-thaw cycle a year, fewer than 99% of listed buildings. Of these, 1 follows at least 1 mm of rain in the preceding 48 hours. Average temperatures at this location have risen by 0.2°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
Sign in or create a free account to unlock:
- No EPC on record for this property
- No sale records on file
- No related consent applications matched
- Detailed attributes — period, style, materials, features
- No flood data for this area
- Radon risk assessment
- Weather exposure and heating demand — rain and frost month by month and year by year, wind direction, solar and humidity
Matched applications, energy data and sale records are assembled automatically and may contain errors. Flag incorrect data.
Nearby listed buildings
- 10 Ballybuttle Road, Ballybuttle, Millisle, Newtownards, Co. Down, BT22 2EG
- Brookvale, 179 Abbey Road, Ballyfrenis, Millisle, Newtownards, Co Down, BT22 2DH
- Millisle Old Mill, Mill Road, Ballycopeland, Millisle, Newtownards, Co. Down, BT22 2EA
- Millisle Primary School, Abbey Road, Ballymacruise, Millisle, Newtownards, Co Down, BT22 2DD
- 24 Main Street, Ballymacruise, Millisle, Newtownards, Co. Down, BT22 2HR
- Former Church School, 28 Main Street, Ballymacruise, Millisle, Newtownards, Co Down, BT22 2PG
- 225 Abbey Road, Ballyfrenis, Millisle, Newtownards, Co. Down, BT22 2DH
- Presbyterian Manse, 30 Main Street, Ballymacruise, Millisle, Newtownards, Co. Down, BT22 2HR
- Former Ballyfrenis Presbyterian Church, Abbey Road, Ballyfrenis, Millisle, Newtownards, Co. Down, BT22 2DH
- 73 Donaghadee Road, Ballycopeland, Millisle, Newtownards, Co. Down, BT22 2BZ