West Kingsdown Windmill

Last updated
West Kingsdown Post Mill
West Kingsdown 1906.jpg
The windmills in 1906
West Kingsdown Windmill
Origin
Mill nameOld Mill
Coordinates 51°20′14″N0°16′11″E / 51.33722°N 0.26972°E / 51.33722; 0.26972 Coordinates: 51°20′14″N0°16′11″E / 51.33722°N 0.26972°E / 51.33722; 0.26972
Year builtLate 19th century
Information
Purpose Corn mill
Type Post mill
Roundhouse storeysSingle storey roundhouse
No. of sailsFour sails
Type of sails Two Common sails and two Spring Sails
Windshaft Cast iron
WindingTailpole
Year lost1909
Other informationMoved from Tubs Hill, Sevenoaks between 1864 and 1880
West Kingsdown Smock Mill
West Kingsdown mill.jpg
The surviving smock mill
West Kingsdown Windmill
Origin
Mill locationPells Lane, West Kingsdown, Kent
Grid reference TQ 582 623
Operator(s) Kent County Council
Year built1880
Information
PurposeCorn mill
Type Smock mill
StoreysFour-storey smock
Base storeysSingle-storey base
Smock sidesEight-sided
No. of sailsFour
Type of sails Two Common sails and two double Patent sails
Windshaft Cast iron
Winding Fantail
Fantail bladesSeven blades
No. of pairs of millstonesThree pairs
Other informationMoved from Farningham in 1880

West Kingsdown Windmill is a Grade II listed [1] smock mill in West Kingsdown, Kent, England, that was built in the early nineteenth century at Farningham and moved to West Kingsdown in 1880. It is the survivor of a pair of windmills.

Contents

History

Post mill

William Coles Finch stated that the post mill was originally built at Sevenoaks. [2] However, the mill may have been built on site c.1804, when it was advertised for sale in the Kentish gazette of 25 September 1804. [3]

In 1880, it was joined by the smock mill that was moved from Farningham and which survives today. The post mill was burnt down in May 1909 when a steam roller set fire to some straw near the mill and the fire then spread to the mill. [2]

Smock mill

West Kingsdown Windmill was built in the early nineteenth century at Chimham's Farm, Farningham. It was marked on the 1819–20 Ordnance Survey map, [3] Greenwoods map of 1821 and the Farningham Tithe Map of 1840. In 1880, it was moved to West Kingsdown, joining a post mill that was already there. The post mill burnt down in May 1909. The mill was working by wind until 1928. One of the sails was damaged on 25 December 1929 and the fantail blew off in November 1930. [2] The mill was restored externally in 1960 by Thompson & Son, Millwrights of Alford, Lincolnshire [4] at a cost of £4.400. [5] In 2009, repairs to the weatherboards were made, and the mill was repainted. As of November 2010, it is awaiting the fitting of new sails. [6]

Description

Post mill

Old Mill was a post mill on a single-storey roundhouse. It was winded by a tailpole. It had two Spring sails and two Common Sails carried on a cast-iron windshaft.

Smock Mill

The Fantail, January 2009 Seven blade fantail.JPG
The Fantail, January 2009

West Kingsdown Mill is a four-storey smock mill on a single storey single-storey brick base. There was a stage at first-floor level. It has two double Patent sails and two Common sails carried on a cast-iron windshaft. The mill is winded by a fantail . The original fantail had seven blades, [2] but this was replaced with a six-bladed one when the mill was restored in 1960. A seven-bladed fantail has since been fitted. All the machinery remains in the mill, except for the final drive to the millstones . [4]

Millers

Post mill

Sevenoaks
West Kingsdown

Smock mill

Farningham
West Kingsdown

References for above:- [2] [4] [7]

Related Research Articles

Union Mill, Cranbrook

Union Mill is a Grade I listed smock mill in Cranbrook, Kent, England, which has been restored to working order. It is the tallest smock mill in the United Kingdom.

Beacon Mill, Benenden

Beacon Mill is a Grade II listed smock mill in Benenden, Kent, England which is in need of restoration. The mill has been out of use since 1923 and is privately owned.

Charing Windmill

Charing Windmill is a Grade II listed house converted smock mill on Charing Hill in Kent in southeast England. It is sometimes known as Field Mill, but that name was also used by a watermill in Charing.

Upper Mill, Eastry

Upper Mill is a Grade II listed house converted smock mill in Eastry, Kent, England. It was built in the mid eighteenth century.

Edenbridge Windmill

Edenbridge Mill is a Grade II listed house converted tower mill in Edenbridge, Kent, England. It is on the west side of Mill Hill, just north of the hospital.

Swingate Mill, Guston

Swingate Mill is a Grade II listed tower mill in Guston, Kent, England that was built in 1849.

Herne Windmill

Herne Windmill is a Grade I listed smock mill in Herne, Kent, England, that was built in 1789.

Drapers Mill, Margate

Draper's Windmill or Old Mill is a Grade II listed Smock mill in Margate, Kent, England that was built in 1845.

Killicks Mill, Meopham

Killick's Mill is a Grade II* listed Smock mill in Meopham, Kent, England that was built in 1801 and which has been restored.

New Mill, Northbourne

New Mill is a Grade II listed smock mill in Northbourne, Kent, England that was built in 1848 and which has been converted to residential accommodation.

Ripple Mill, Ringwould

Ripple Windmill is a Grade II listed smock mill in Ringwould, Kent, England, that was built in Drellingore and moved to Ringwould in the early nineteenth century. Having been stripped of machinery and used as a television mast, it is now under restoration as a working windmill.

Sarre Windmill

Sarre Windmill is a Grade II listed smock mill in Sarre, Kent, England, that was built in 1820. Formerly restored and working commercially, the mill is now closed.

Black Mill, Whitstable

Black Mill, or Borstal Hill Mill is a smock mill in Whitstable, Kent, England that was built in 1815. It is now a part of a private residence at the end of Millers Court.

Lower Mill, Woodchurch

Lower Mill is a smock mill in Woodchurch, Kent, England that was built in 1820. It is a Scheduled Ancient Monument and a Grade II* listed building.

Great Mill, Sheerness

Great Mill or Ride's Mill is a Grade II listed smock mill just off the High Street in Sheerness, Kent, England, that was demolished in 1924, leaving the brick base standing. It now has a new smock tower built on it as residential accommodation.

Ringle Crouch Green Mill

Ringle Crouch Green Mill is a smock mill in Sandhurst, Kent, England, that was demolished to base level in 1945, and now has a new smock tower built on it as residential accommodation and an electricity generator.

Kings Head Mill

King's Mead Mill is a grade II listed smock mill at Battle, Sussex, England, which has been converted to residential accommodation.

Heritage Mill, North Chailey

Heritage Mill, or Beard's Mill is a grade II listed smock mill at North Chailey, Sussex, England, which is maintained as a landmark and open to the public.

Blackdown Mill, Punnetts Town

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

Baker Street Mill, Orsett

Baker Street Mill is a grade II listed smock mill at Baker Street, Orsett, Essex, England which has been part adapted to residential use on its lower two floors only.

References

  1. ↑ Historic England. "KINGSDOWN MILL, PELLS LANE, WEST KINGSDOWN, SEVENOAKS, KENT (1267420)". National Heritage List for England . Retrieved 2008-04-17.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Coles Finch, William (1933). Watermills and Windmills. London: C W Daniel Company. pp. 230, 273.
  3. 1 2 Cumming, Rob (2014). The Windmills of North West Kent and Kentish London (and the men who built them). Catrine: Stenlake Publishing. pp. 48–51. ISBN   9781840336634.
  4. 1 2 3 West, Jenny (1973). The Windmills of Kent. London: Charles Skilton Ltd. pp. 52–54. ISBN   0-284-98534-1.
  5. ↑ Brown, R J (1976). Windmills of England. London: Robert Hale. pp. 112–113. ISBN   0-7091-5641-3.
  6. ↑ Cumming, Rob (2010). "Mill News". Cant Post. Kent: Kent Mills Society (2): 7.
  7. ↑ "Directory of Kent Mill People". The Mills Archive Trust. Archived from the original on 2009-04-16. Retrieved 2008-04-17.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.