Rayleigh Windmill

Last updated

Rayleigh Mill
Rayleigh Windmill at night.jpg
The floodlit mill, July 2006
Rayleigh Windmill
Origin
Mill nameRayleigh Mill
Mill location TQ 807 910
Coordinates 51°35′17″N0°36′25″E / 51.588°N 0.607°E / 51.588; 0.607
Operator(s)Rochford District Council
Year built1809
Information
Purpose Corn mill
Type Tower mill
StoreysSix storeys
No. of sailsFour sails
Type of sails Two Spring sails and two Common sails
Windshaft Cast iron
Winding Fantail
Fantail bladesSix blades
Auxiliary power steam engine, then an oil engine, then an electric motor
No. of pairs of millstonesThree pairs

Rayleigh Windmill is a grade II listed [1] Tower mill at Rayleigh, Essex, England which has been restored as a landmark and is used as a museum.

Contents

History

Rayleigh Windmill was built in 1809 for Thomas Higgs, a timber merchant of Rayleigh. Higgs was bankrupt in 1815 and the mill was sold to William Hart of Woodham Mortimer in 1817. Hart sold the mill to George Britton in 1845 and the mill passed to his sons John and Samuel in 1869. £150 was spent putting the mill into repair. The Britton brothers left Rayleigh in 1884 and were bankrupt in 1886. Thomas James Brown was the next miller, and the last to work the mill by wind c1907. The cap and sails were removed c1909 [2] and the mill was worked by a steam engine [3] then an oil engine and latterly by electric motor until at least 1937. [2]

The mill was taken over for use as a museum by Rayleigh and District Antiquarian and Natural History Society, formally opening on 16 May 1970. The capless mill stood for many years with a crenellated top but in 1972 Rayleigh Urban District Council launched an appeal to restore the mill as a landmark. By the autumn of 1974 a new cap and sails had been made and fitted by millwrights John Lawn and Philip Barrett-Lennard. [2]

In 2005, restoration work costing £340,000 was funded by the Thames Gateway South Essex Partnership. [4]

Description

Rayleigh Windmill is a six-storey tower mill with a Kentish cap winded by a six-bladed fantail. The mill had two single Spring sails and two Common sails carried on a cast-iron windshaft. The tower has no batter until second-floor level, where the stage is. The tower is 20 feet (6.10 m) diameter at base level and 11 feet (3.35 m) internal diameter at the curb. The brickwork is 4 feet 6 inches (1.37 m) thick at base level and at curb level it is thickened out to 3 feet (910 mm). The mill is 60 feet (18.29 m) high to the top of the cap. The mill drove three pairs of millstones. [2]

Millers

References for above:- [2]

Public access

Rayleigh Windmill is open from April each year on Wednesdays, Saturdays and Sundays. [3]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Upminster Windmill</span>

Upminster Windmill is a Grade II* listed smock mill located in Upminster in the London Borough of Havering, England. It was formerly known as Abraham's Mill and was in Essex when built. It has been restored and is a museum open to the public at selected times.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Webb's Mill, Thaxted</span> Historic building in Essex, United Kingdom

John Webb’s or Lowe’s Mill is a Grade II* listed tower mill at Thaxted, Essex, England, which had been restored to working order, but is currently out of action following the loss of a sail in April 2010.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shirley Windmill</span> Windmill in south London

Shirley Windmill is a Grade II listed tower mill in Shirley, in the London Borough of Croydon, England which has been restored to working order.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Great Bircham Windmill</span> Tower mill in Norfolk, United Kingdom

Great Bircham Windmill is a Grade II listed tower mill in Great Bircham, Norfolk, England.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Caston Windmill</span> Tower mill at Caston, Norfolk, England

Caston Tower Windmill is a grade II* listed tower mill at Caston, Norfolk, England which is under restoration. The mill is also a scheduled monument.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ovenden's Mill, Polegate</span>

Ovenden's Mill or Mockett's Mill is a grade II* listed tower mill at Polegate, East Sussex, England which has been restored but is now in a poor state and the tower is not open to the public. The impressive milling museum is open but only on certain Open Days. If you look at the "Polegate windmill" Facebook page you will find more details. We are arranging these days at the moment but the first one should be National Mills weekend with the mill open on the Sunday.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Baker Street Mill, Orsett</span> Smock mill in Essex, England

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Terling Windmill</span>

Terling Windmill is a grade II listed Smock mill at Terling, Essex, England, which has been converted to residential use.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">South Ockendon Windmill</span>

South Ockendon Windmill was a Smock mill at South Ockendon, Essex, England which collapsed on 2 November 1977.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gibraltar Mill, Great Bardfield</span>

Gibraltar Mill is a grade II listed Tower mill at Great Bardfield, Essex, England which has been converted to residential use.

Church End Mill is a grade II listed Tower mill at Great Dunmow, Essex, England which has been converted to residential use.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stansted Mountfitchet Windmill</span> Windmill in Stansted Mountfitchet, England

Stansted Mountfitchet Windmill is a grade II* listed Tower mill at Stansted Mountfitchet, Essex, England which is also a Scheduled Ancient Monument. It has been restored and can turn by wind.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stock Windmill</span>

Stock Windmill is a grade II* listed tower mill at Stock, Essex, which has been restored.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Messing Maypole Mill</span>

Messing Maypole Mill is a grade II listed Tower mill at Tiptree, Essex, England which has been converted to a residence. Prior to boundary changes made when the civil parish of Tiptree was established in 1934, the mill was in the parish of Tolleshunt Knights.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gainsford End Mill, Toppesfield</span>

Gainsford End Mill is a grade II listed tower mill at Gainsford End, near Toppesfield, Essex, England, which has been converted to a residence.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">White Roding Windmill</span>

White Roding Windmill is a Grade II listed preserved tower mill at White Roding, Essex, England.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Burgh Windmill</span>

Burgh Mill is a Grade II listed tower mill at Burgh, Suffolk, England which has been converted to residential accommodation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Buxhall Windmill</span> Former tower mill at Buxhall, Suffolk, England

Buxhall Mill is a tower mill at Buxhall, Suffolk, England which has been converted to residential accommodation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Buttrum's Mill, Woodbridge</span>

Buttrum's Mill or Trott's Mill is a Grade II* listed tower mill at Woodbridge, Suffolk, England, which has been restored to working order.

Lannock Mill is a Grade II listed tower mill at Weston, Hertfordshire, England which is derelict.

References

  1. Historic England. "THE OLD WINDMILL, BELLINHGHAM LANE, RAYLEIGH, ROCHFORD, ESSEX (1147890)". National Heritage List for England . Retrieved 10 August 2008.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Farries, Kenneth (1985). Essex Windmills, Millers and Millwrights - Volume Four - A Review by Parishes, F-R. Edinburgh: Charles Skilton. pp. 109–112. ISBN   0-284-98647-X.
  3. 1 2 "The Windmill, Rayleigh" (PDF). Rochford District Council. Retrieved 10 August 2008.[ dead link ]
  4. "Works starts on Rayleigh Windmill". Windmill World. Archived from the original on 14 May 2008. Retrieved 10 August 2008.