Berney Arms Windmill
| Berney Arms Windmill | |
|
Norfolk | |
|---|---|
 Berney Arms Windmill | |
| Type: | Windmill |
| Location | |
| Grid reference: | TG465049 |
| Location: | 52°35’12"N, 1°38’16"E |
| History | |
| Built 1865 | |
| Windmill | |
| Information | |
| Owned by: | Managed by English Heritage |
| Website: | Berney Arms Windmill |
Berney Arms Windmill stands at Berney Arms alongside the River Yare at the south-western end of Breydon Water in Norfolk.[1] It stands on the north side of the River Yare, on a final tidal stretch before Breydon Water known as the Berney Arms Reach.
The windmill is in an isolated spot in the Broads around three and a half miles north-east of the village of Reedham and four miles south-west of Great Yarmouth. The mill has no road access but can be accessed by boat, by foot or from Berney Arms railway station.
It is a Scheduled Ancient Monument under the care of English Heritage.
Description
The windmill is 71 feet tall[2] and is the tallest drainage windmill in Norfolk. It is constructed from red brickwork with the outside sloping walls coated with tar. The mill tower stands seven storeys high. The cap resembles an upturned clinker boat hull and is a traditional style for Norfolk.[2] The windmill has four sails and a fantail. The mill's scoop wheel stands some way from the mill, which is unusual. The scoop wheel is linked to the mill by a horizontal shaft and has a diameter of 24 feet, with long wooden paddles. The paddles scooped water into a narrow brick-built culvert and released it to the higher level of the River Yare.
History
The windmill was built in 1865 for the Reedham Cement Company by the millwright firm of Stolworthy[3][4] on the site of a previous mill.[5] It was initially used to grind cement clinker, using chalk from Whitlingham near Norwich and clay dredged from Oulton Broad or Breydon Water, both brought to the mill by wherry.[6] These materials were fired at nearby kilns. The kilns produced a clinker which was ground to a powder in the windmill. At this time the cement worlks supported a small hamlet with 11 inhabited houses and a chapel.[6]
Cement production closed down in 1880 and in 1883 the windmill was converted to work the drainage scoop to drain the surrounding marshland.[7] The mill closed in 1948 when it was replaced by motor pumps.[2][3][5][8] It was given to the Ministry of Works in 1951 and restoration begun in 1967.[2]
The Windmill today
The windmill is a Scheduled Ancient Monument under the care of English Heritage.[5][9] It underwent a lengthy restoration programme starting in 1999 when the sails were removed along with the cap and fantail. After a long period without them the cap was replaced during 2003, the fantail on 22 April 2006 and finally the sails on 25 May 2007.
During the Summer of 2009 English Heritage, in partnership with a local boat touring company, re-opened the mill on a limited basis on a number of Mondays. It is now only open to pre-booked group tours.[7]
Outside links
 |
("Wikimedia Commons" has material about Berney Arms Windmill) |
- Berney Arms Windmill at Berney Arms Web
- Berney Arms Windmill - English Heritage
References
- ↑ The Norfolk Windmill Trust, Windmills to Visit Guide. 3rd Edition, 1982, Page 16. The Morris Printing Co Ltd, 57-61 Pitt Street, Norwich - description & location details.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 National Monuments Record: No. 133775 – Berney Arms Windmill
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Reedham Berney Arms drainage mill, Norfolk Windmills website. Retrieved 2014-02-19.
- ↑ Labrum, E.A (1993) Civil Engineering Heritage: Eastern and Central England, Thomas Telford Ltd (p.129).
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Berney Arms high mill, Norfolk Heritage Explorer, Norfolk County Council. Retrieved 2014-02-19.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Local character area 19 - Halvergate marshes (excluding Bure loop and the west of Tunstall dyke) Broads landscape character assessment, Broads Authority, 2006. Retrieved 2014-02-20.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 Berney Arms Windmill, English Heritage. Retrieved 2014-02-19.
- ↑ Berney Arms Windmill, Engineering timelines. Retrieved 2014-02-19.
- ↑ National Heritage List 1003957: Berney Arms windmill
