Blackdown Mill, Punnetts Town

Punnetts Town Windmill
The mill in 2006
Origin
Mill name	Punnett's Town Mill Cherry Clack Mill
Mill location	TQ 627 209
Coordinates	50°57′54″N0°18′58″E / 50.965°N 0.316°E / 50.965; 0.316
Operator(s)	Private
Year built	1859
Information
Purpose	Corn mill
Type	Smock mill
Storeys	Three-storey smock
Base storeys	Single-storey base
Smock sides	Eight sides
No. of sails	Four Sails (Two Missing)
Type of sails	Common sails
Windshaft	Cast iron
Winding	Fantail
Fantail blades	Six blades
Auxiliary power	Engine
No. of pairs of millstones	Two pairs, a third pair driven by engine

Blackdown Mill or Cherry Clack Mill is a grade II listed ^[1] smock mill at Punnetts Town, East Sussex, England, which has been restored.

History

Blackdown Mill, was originally built at Three Chimneys, Cranbrook, Kent. She was dismantled and moved to Punnetts Town ^[2] in 1859 to replace a post mill that had burnt down. ^[3] The original mill was referred to as Cherry Clack Mill in the 1851 census, when Demas Dallaway was the miller. ^[4] The move was done by Neve's, the Heathfield millwrights. ^[5] The mill was working by wind until the 1920s, ^[6] when the mill became unable to turn to wind because of a broken curb. The mill was stripped of machinery and the cap and sails removed by Neve's in 1933. ^[3]

In 1946, Archie Dallaway decided to restore the mill back to working order. A new cap, of a different design to the original was built. A new fantail fitted, and the windshaft from Staplecross Mill, which was demolished in 1951, was installed. ^[3] Four new sails were made and fitted in 1972. Two pairs of millstones were installed, one pair coming from a watermill at Polegate. ^[5] A third pair of stones was added later. ^[3]

Description

For an explanation of the various pieces of machinery, see Mill machinery.

Blackdown Mill is a three-storey smock mill on a single-storey brick base. It originally had Kentish-style cap, winded by a fantail. When last working for trade she had four patent sails. The mill drove two pairs of overdrift millstones, with a third pair worked by engine. A saw was also worked by the mill. ^[3]

As restored, a beehive cap clad in aluminium is now carried, and the sails are now common sails. The sails are 26-foot-6-inch (8.08 m) long and 5-foot-3-inch (1.60 m) wide. The cap is winded by a 6 feet (1.83 m) diameter fantail. The cast-iron windshaft carries an 8-foot-4-inch (2.54 m) diameter oak brake wheel, which drives the original cast-iron wallower on a cast iron upright shaft. The great spur wheel is a replacement, built by Mr Dallaway. Three pairs of millstones are driven overdrift. ^[3] Recent photos show that the mill is missing two sails and the fantail.

In 2016, high winds set the restoration back as the new mast snapped.

Millers

• Samuel Dallaway 1859 - 1876
• Dallaway Brothers (Charles, Thomas and John) 1876 - c.1910
• Demas Dallaway 1910 - 1933
• Archie Dallaway 1946 -

References for above:- ^[3]

References

1. Historic England. "BLACKDOWN OR "CHERRY CLACK" WINDMILL, HEATHFIELD AND WALDRON, WEALDEN, EAST SUSSEX (1194576)". National Heritage List for England . Retrieved 10 May 2008.
2. Coles Finch, William (1933). Watermills and Windmills. London: Daniel. pp. 164–165.
3. Brunnarius, Martin (1979). The Windmills of Sussex. Chichester: Philimore. pp. 60–63, 79, 158, 190. ISBN   0-85033-345-8.
4. 1851 Census of England and Wales, The National Archives, H.O.107/1638/416, page 18.
5. "HEATHFIELD WINDMILL". Dallaway. Archived from the original on 9 May 2008. Retrieved 10 May 2008.
6. Sources vary as to date - Dallaway website 1924, Coles Finch 1927, Brunnarius 1929.

External links

• Windmill World Page on Blackdown windmill.
• Punnetts Town Page about the mill on the Punnetts Town website.

Further reading

Hemming, Peter (1936). Windmills in Sussex. London: C W Daniel. Online version Archived 12 October 2009 at the Wayback Machine