Bidston Windmill

Last updated
Bidston Windmill
Bidston Windmill 2013.jpg
The mill in 2013.
Origin
Mill nameBidston Mill
Grid reference SJ 287 893
Coordinates 53°23′49″N3°04′26″W / 53.397°N 3.074°W / 53.397; -3.074 Coordinates: 53°23′49″N3°04′26″W / 53.397°N 3.074°W / 53.397; -3.074
Operator(s)Public
Year builtc. 1800
Information
Purpose Corn mill
Type Tower mill
No. of sailsFour Sails

Bidston Windmill is situated on Bidston Hill, near Birkenhead, on the Wirral Peninsula, England.

Bidston Hill hill in the United Kingdom

Bidston Hill is 100 acres (0.40 km2) of heathland and woodland that contains historic buildings and ancient rock carvings. It is located on the Wirral Peninsula, near the Birkenhead suburb of Bidston, in Merseyside, England. With a peak of 231 feet (70 m), Bidston Hill is one of the highest points on the Wirral. The land was part of Lord Vyner's estate and purchased by Birkenhead Corporation in 1894 for use by the public.

Birkenhead town in Merseyside, England

Birkenhead is a town within the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral in Merseyside, England. Historically in Cheshire, it is on the Wirral Peninsula, along the west bank of the River Mersey, opposite the city of Liverpool. In the 2011 census, the Parliamentary constituency of Birkenhead had a population of 88,818.

Wirral Peninsula area of Great Britain

Wirral, also known as The Wirral, is a peninsula in North West England. The Metropolitan Borough of Wirral is part of the Liverpool City Region. It is bounded to the west by the River Dee, forming a boundary with Wales, to the east by the River Mersey, and to the north by the Irish Sea.

Contents

History

It is believed that there has been a windmill, on this site, since 1596. [1] [2] [3] The mill was ideally placed to catch the wind and was able to produce over 100 pounds (45 kg) of flour every 3 to 5 minutes. [3] However, the mill was difficult to access by cart. The previous structure, a wooden peg mill, was destroyed by fire in 1791 [2] [3] [4] (although some sources state 1793). [1] During a gale, the sails got out of control and the friction produced by the revolving wooden mechanism caused the entire mill to burst into flames.

Windmill machine that converts the energy of wind into rotational energy

A windmill is a structure that converts the energy of wind into rotational energy by means of vanes called sails or blades. Centuries ago, windmills usually were used to mill grain (gristmills), pump water (windpumps), or both. There are windmills that convert the rotational energy directly into heat. The majority of modern windmills take the form of wind turbines used to generate electricity, or windpumps used to pump water, either for land drainage or to extract groundwater. Windmills first appeared in Persia in the 9th century AD, and were later independently invented in Europe.

Post mill earliest type of European windmill

The post mill is the earliest type of European windmill. Its defining feature is that the whole body of the mill that houses the machinery is mounted on a single vertical post, around which it can be turned to bring the sails into the wind.

The current building was built around 1800 and continued working as a flour mill until about 1875. [1] After falling into disuse the windmill and the land, on which it stands, was purchased by Birkenhead Corporation and restored from 1894.

Flour powder which is made by grinding cereal grains

Flour is a powder made by grinding raw grains, roots, beans, nuts or seeds. It is used to make many different foods. Cereal flour is the main ingredient of bread, which is a staple food for most cultures. Wheat flour is one of the most important ingredients in Oceanic, European, South American, North American, Middle Eastern, North Indian and North African cultures, and is the defining ingredient in their styles of breads and pastries.

There is a plaque on the windmill, which reads as follows:

This land, including the woods surrounding this windmill, containing with the adjacent piece of land known as Thermopylae about 90 acres (360,000 m2) was purchased from RG de Grey Vyner during the years 1894 to 1908 at a cost of £30,310. Of this sum the Corporation of Birkenhead contributed £14,625 and £15,685 was raised by public subscription. A portion of this land, viz the eastern wood containing 22 acres (89,000 m2), was purchased as a memorial of the late Edmund Taylor, of Oxton, in recognition of his great services in connection with the acquisition of Bidston Hill for the benefit of the public. The land belongs to and is maintained at the expense of the Corporation of Birkenhead. But according to the deeds of conveyance it must always be used as an open space and place of public recreation and must be preserved and maintained, so far as possible, in its present wild and natural condition. Special care being given to preservation of the trees, gorse, heath and also of this windmill. Bye laws have been made and a keeper and assistant appointed so that they are observed. The public, for whose enjoyment alone the land was secured, are invited to aid in preserving it from fire and damage.

AD MCMIX. This tablet restored 1971.

The building was badly damaged in 1927, once again. A public subscription was then raised, in order to carry out the necessary repairs. [4] The windmill has been reconditioned several times, since. During 2006, the roof of the windmill was replaced as part of a refurbishment program, in order to maintain the structure. [2]

Related Research Articles

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Irby, Merseyside

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Great Float

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The Wirral Railway was a railway network in the northern part of the Wirral Peninsula, England. It was incorporated in 1863 as the Hoylake Railway, running from Hoylake to Birkenhead Docks. After changes of name and of ownership, it was purchased by the Wirral Railway Company Limited in 1884. The network was extended to West Kirby, New Brighton, and Seacombe, and to Birkenhead Park station where it joined the Mersey Railway, enabling through trains through the Mersey Railway Tunnel to Liverpool. In the 1923 grouping the Wirral company became part of the London, Midland and Scottish Railway, which electrified the line in 1938, allowing passenger services to be integrated with the Liverpool urban system. Most of the Wirral Railway network is still in use today as part of the Wirral Line of the Merseyrail commuter rail network.

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Bidston railway station

Bidston railway station is a railway station in Bidston, Birkenhead, on the Wirral, England. The station is situated at the junction of the West Kirby branch of the Wirral Line, which is part of the Merseyrail network, and with the Borderlands Line from Wrexham Central, operated by Transport for Wales. Bidston is the northern terminal of the Borderlands Line.

Borderlands line

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Wallasey Pool was a natural tidal inlet of water that separated the towns of Wallasey and Birkenhead on the Wirral Peninsula, England. Originally flowing directly into the River Mersey, it was converted into the sophisticated Birkenhead Dock system from the 1820s onwards by land reclamation, with the main portion of the pool becoming known as the Great Float. In 1933, with the exception of a small lake, the head of Wallasey Pool at Poulton was converted into Bidston Dock. By 2003, this dock had been filled in.

Birkenhead Dock Branch

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The Clayton Windmills, known locally as Jack and Jill, stand on the South Downs above the village of Clayton, West Sussex, England. They comprise a post mill and a tower mill, and the roundhouse of a former post mill. All three are Grade II* listed buildings.

Flaybrick Memorial Gardens

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Claughton, Merseyside

Claughton is a residential district in Birkenhead, on the Wirral Peninsula, England. It is close to the main shopping area of Birkenhead town centre, and Birkenhead Park is partly located within its boundaries. Administratively, Claughton is a ward of the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral. Before local government reorganisation on 1 April 1974, it was part of the County Borough of Birkenhead, within the geographical county of Cheshire. At the 2001 Census, the population of Claughton was 13,723, consisting of 6,498 males and 7,225 females. As of the 2011 Census, the population of Claughton is 14,705, consisting of 7,065 males and 7,640 females.

St Oswalds Church, Bidston Church in Merseyside, England

St Oswald's Church is in Bidston, an area of Birkenhead, Wirral, Merseyside, England. It is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade II listed building. It is an active Anglican parish church in the diocese of Chester, the archdeaconry of Chester and the deanery of Birkenhead.

Beechwood, Merseyside

Beechwood is a housing estate situated between Bidston and Noctorum, to the west of Birkenhead on the Wirral Peninsula in England. The estate was built in the 1960s as the Ford Estate and completed in the mid to late 1970s, to house people moving from the North End of Birkenhead and providing a better standard of living.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Natural Areas and Greenspaces: Bidston Hill, Metropolitan Borough of Wirral, archived from the original on 9 December 2010, retrieved 13 June 2010
  2. 1 2 3 Kemble, Mike, Bidston: The Mill, archived from the original on 10 October 2010, retrieved 13 June 2010
  3. 1 2 3 Windmills, Allerton Oak, archived from the original on 23 February 2011, retrieved 13 June 2010
  4. 1 2 Bidston, C.E., Old Ordnance Survey Map: Cheshire 13.02 (1909), Alan Godfrey Maps
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