Bursledon Windmill

Bursledon Windmill
Hampshire's only working windmill
Origin
Mill name	Bursledon Mill
Mill location	Bursledon, Eastleigh, Hampshire
Grid reference	SU 482 108
Coordinates	50°53′42″N1°18′54″W / 50.894916°N 1.315001°W / 50.894916; -1.315001
Operator(s)	Hampshire Cultural Trust
Year built	1814
Information
Purpose	Corn mill
Type	tower mill
Storeys	Five storeys
No. of sails	Four sails
Type of sails	Common sails
Windshaft	Wood
Winding	Hand winded via chain and wheel
No. of pairs of millstones	Three
Other information
Listed Building – Grade II*
Designated	14 February 1983
Reference no.	1281479

Bursledon Windmill is a Grade II* listed ^[1] windmill in Bursledon, Hampshire, England which has been restored to working order.

Description

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

Bursledon mill is a five-storey tower mill with a reefing stage at first floor level. The boat shaped cap is winded by a chain and wheel. The four Common sails are carried on a wooden windshaft, which also carries the wooden brake wheel. This drives the wooden wallower, located at the top of the wooden upright shaft. The wooden great spur wheel at the bottom of the upright shaft drives three pairs of underdrift millstones. ^[2]

Commercial history

Bursledon Windmill was built in 1814 by a Mrs Phoebe Langtry, ^[3] replacing an earlier post mill which was built about 1768. ^[4] The machinery of the earlier mill was incorporated into the new mill. ^[5] In 1814, the mill was mortgaged for £800 for six years. The mill was sold by the mortgagees in 1820. ^[6] The mill was working until the 1880s initially by Mrs Langtry's son, Wiliam Langtry. John Cove and his family worked this mill between 1847 and 1871. The UK census shows he had worked a mill in Portsmouth and originally came from Wiltshire. He and his wife Susannah Emmett both came from Wiltshire and are responsible for the nearly all the Cove family in Southampton. His daughter Mary married a Jarvis and ran the Jolly Sailor public house in Hamble, one of his other daughters ran a market garden at the end of Windmill Lane and his son John Cove became a farm labourer. The last miller was George Gosling who bought the mill in 1872. ^[3]

Decline of the windmill

When the mill ceased working, a flat roof was placed on the cap frame, which preserved the machinery in the mill. ^[5] In 1931, the runner stones were removed. The mill was derelict by 1978, the top two floors being in very poor condition by then. Some essential repairs were carried out in that year by the County Council. ^[2]

Restoration of the windmill

Between 1978 and 1991, the mill was restored by the Hampshire Buildings Preservation Trust. The sails were replaced in 1990 and the mill opened to the public in May 1991. ^[6]

Ongoing maintenance of the windmill

In February 2012, the start of a major restoration to the windmill began. The first stage saw the removal of the wooden lattices that make up the sails. This work was in preparation for the replacement of the windshaft which had reached the end of its natural life. ^[7] The work was completed in November 2014. ^[8] The Mill is owned by Hampshire Buildings Preservation Trust (Ltd) and was leased to Hampshire County Council on a 35 year full repairing lease, and in 2014 the lease was renewed for a further 10 years in 2014/15. In 2014 the windmill was sublet by Hampshire County Council to the Hampshire Cultural Trust as part of a larger transfer of museums from Hampshire County Council and Winchester City Council. ^[9] In April 2024 the windmill closed to the public due to financial difficulties. ^[10]

Millers

• William Langtry 1787–1813 (post mill) ^{[1] [6]}
• William Langtry 1814–1820 (son of the above) ^{[1] [6]}
• John Cove 1847–1871 ^{[1] [6]}
• George Gosling 1872–1907 ^{[1] [6]}

Public access

Bursledon Windmill is open to the public from 11:00 to 16:00 on Sundays. It is also open by appointment on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. ^[11]

References

1. Historic England. "BURLESDON WINDMILL, WINDMILL LANE, BURSLEDON, EASTLEIGH, HAMPSHIRE (1281479)". National Heritage List for England . Retrieved 6 June 2009.
2. Ellis, Monica, ed. (1978). Water and Wind Mills in Hampshire and the Isle of Wight. Southampton: Southampton University Industrial Archaeology Group. pp. 58–59. ISBN   0-905280-01-6.
3. Bowie, Gavin. Bursledon Windmill, A brief history. Hampshire Museums Service.
4. Blythman, Guy. The Windmills of Hampshire and the Isle of Wight. The Mills Archive Trust (2016).
5. "BURSLEDON WINDMILL". Southern Life. Archived from the original on 17 July 2009. Retrieved 6 June 2009.
6. "Bursledon Windmill stands as Phoebe Langtry's legacy". Hampshire Chronicle. Retrieved 6 June 2009.
7. Hampshire County Council. "Bursledon Windmill". Hampshire County Council. Archived from the original on 13 January 2012. Retrieved 27 January 2012.
8. "Bursledon Windmill reopens after £94,000 revamp". BBC News Online. Retrieved 1 December 2014.
9. "Hampshire and Winchester museums and art leased to trust". BBC News. 1 November 2014. Retrieved 4 November 2014.
10. "Bursledon Windmill closed to the public due to financial difficulties". Daily Echo. 6 April 2024. Retrieved 23 August 2024.
11. "Bursledon Windmill". Hampshire Cultural Trust. Retrieved 31 March 2018.

External links

• Bursledon Windmill - Hampshire County Council
• Windmill World webpage on Bursledon Mill.
• Diagram of Bursledon Mill