Saxtead Green Post Mill

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Saxtead Green Post Mill

Saxtead Green Post Mill is a windmill in Saxtead Green in Suffolk. It is an eighteenth century post mill, and now a Grade II* listed building[1] and a Scheduled Ancient Monument. The mill site ceased working in 1947 but has since then been lovingly restored. Today it is in the care of English Heritage and opened to the public in season but owned privately.

History

According to the Manorial Records there has been a windmill in Saxtead since 1287. The current Saxtead Green Mill dates back to at least 1796 when the miller was Amos Webber.[2]

In 1810, the Mill House was built for Robert Holmes. The mill was raised a total of three times during its working life.[3] The mill was tailwinded c. 1853. Around this time, the sails were destroyed and remade but in 1854 Whitmore and Binyon, the Wickham Market millwrights fitted new cast iron machinery and windshaft, and the layout of the machinery changed from Head and Tail to Breast stones.[4] It was in this year that the mill was raised for the third time. Collins, the Melton millwright worked on the mill in the 1870s and Whitmore and Binyon again worked on the mill in the 1890s. From 1926 millwright Jesse Wightman (who was initially apprenticed to A S Aldred the Miller) assisted the owner with repairs until the mill ceased working commercially on the death of the last miller in 1947.[3]

The mill passed to Mr S C Sullivan,(1908-1997)The son of A S Aldred, who placed the mill in the guardianship of the Ministry of Works in 1951. The mill is currently owned by Stephen and Jonathan Sullivan (ensuring the Mill has been in the ownership of the same family since 1873) The mill was completely rebuilt between 1957 and 1960 under the supervision of Jesse Wightman. A replacement crowntree was obtained from a windmill at Wetheringsett which had been demolished.[3] The mill has been in the care of English Heritage since 1984 [5]

The mill was repaired, with a new pair of sails made in 2008.

Description

The mill is a post mill with a three storey roundhouse. The mill has four Patent sails carried on a cast iron windshaft and is winded by a fantail. The mill has two pairs of millstones in the breast. All the machinery is of cast iron except the Brake Wheel, which is of oak.[4]

Public access

The mill is open to the public on Friday, Saturday and Bank Holidays between 1 April and 30 September each year.

Outside links

Commons-logo.svg
("Wikimedia Commons" has material
about Saxtead Green Post Mill)

References

  1. Images of England — details from listed building database (285948) Saxtead Mill, Saxtead
  2. Wailes, Rex. Saxtead Green Post Mill. London: English Heritage. ISBN 978 1 85074 220 3. 
  3. 3.0 3.1 3.2 Brown, R J (1976). Windmills of England. London: Robert Hale Ltd. pp. 182. ISBN 0-7091-5641-3. 
  4. 4.0 4.1 Flint, Brian (1997). Suffolk Windmills. Woodbridge: The Boydell Press. pp. 10, 19, 28, 66, 75, 108–109. ISBN 0-85115-112-4. 
  5. Images of England — details from listed building database (285948) Saxtead Green Post Mill