Blackdown Mill, Punnett's Town
| Punnetts Town Windmill | |
|
Sussex | |
|---|---|
 The mill in 2006 | |
| Type: | windmill |
| Location | |
| Grid reference: | TQ627209 |
| Location: | 50°57’54"N, -0°18’58"E |
| History | |
| windmill | |
| Information | |
Blackdown Mill or Cherry Clack Mill is a restored windmill in Punnetts Town in Sussex. It is of the 'smock mill' design, and today is a Grade II listed building,[1] which has been restored.
History
Blackdown Mill, was originally built at Three Chimneys by Cranbrook in Kent. The mill 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. The mill was working by wind until the 1920s, 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. A third pair of stones was added later.[3]
Description
The 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 feet 6 inches long and 5 feet 3 inches wide. The cap is winded by a 6-foot diameter fantail. The cast-iron windshaft carries an 8-foot 4-inch 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.
Outside links
- Blackdown Mill: Windmill World
- The Mill: Punnetts Town
References
- ↑ National Heritage List 1194576: Blackdown or "Cherry Clack" Windmill
- ↑ Coles Finch, William (1933). Watermills and Windmills. London: Daniel. pp. 164–165.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 Brunnarius, Martin (1979). The Windmills of Sussex. Chichester: Philimore. pp. 60–63, 79, 158, 190. ISBN 0-85033-345-8.
- ↑ 1851 Census of England and Wales, The National Archives, H.O.107/1638/416, page 18.
Hemming, Peter (1936). Windmills in Sussex. London: C W Daniel. Online version