New Mill, Cross-in-Hand
| New Mill | |
|
Sussex | |
|---|---|
 The mill in 2006 | |
| Type: | windmill |
| Location | |
| Grid reference: | TQ558218 |
| Location: | 50°58’30"N, 0°13’5"E |
| History | |
| Built 1855 (Framfield); 1868 Cross-in-Hand | |
| windmill | |
| Information | |
New Mill is a post mill standing at Cross in Hand near Heathfield in Sussex. It was the last windmill working commercially by wind in Sussex, ceasing work by wind in 1969 when a stock broke.
The mill today is a Grade II* listed building.[1]
History
New Mill was built at Mount Ephraim, Framfield in the early 19th century. In 1855, it was moved to a site a quarter of a mile south-west of its current position. The move was done by Samuel Medhurst, the Lewes millwright. In 1868, it was moved again to its current position, joining another windmill which became known as the Old Mill. Medhurst was also responsible for this move. The mill was working until 1969, when a stock broke. Milling continued by auxiliary power in an adjoining building until 1971.[2] The mill is currently under restoration.[3] In August 2014, concerns were raised about the condition of the mill, which is owned by brothers Brian and Geoff Newnham.[4] Following inspection by a millwright in 2015, a crowdfunding appeal was launched to raise £3,000 for emergency repairs to the trestle. When the appeal closed on 8 June, £1,654 had been raised.[5]
Description
New Mill is a post mill on a two-storey roundhouse. It had four patent sails carried on a cast iron windshaft and was winded by a tailpole-mounted fantail. When originally built, the fantail was roof-mounted, in a similar manner to that still to be seen at Hogg Hill, Icklesham. Medhurst fitted a five-bladed fantail, which was replaced in 1907 by an eight-bladed fantail of 11-foot diameter by Neve of Heathfield. The mill originally drove two pairs of millstones, driven by a head wheel 9 feet 8 inches in diameter and a tail wheel 8 feet 4inches in diameter. Later, another pair was added to the breast, driven by a spur gear arrangement, the spur wheel being 4 feet in diameter. One pair of stones in the breast was removed in 1933.
The body of New Mill is 21 feet long and 12 feet wide. The mill is 45 feet high to the roof. The roundhouse is 25 feet in diameter and the main post is 2 feet 6|in|mm}} square.[2]
Outside links
- Windmill World: New Mill
References
- ↑ National Heritage List 1183064: Cross-In-Hand Windmill (Grade II* listing)
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Brunnarius, Martin (1979). The Windmills of Sussex. Chichester: Philimore. pp. 38–41, 188. ISBN 0-85033-345-8.
- ↑ "Windmill at Cross In Hand, Heathfield, East Sussex - 7th February 2004". Roughwood. http://www.roughwood.net/PhotoAlbum/2004%20Album/CrossInHandWindmill2004.htm.
- ↑ "Poet's campaign to save Cross in Hand Windmill". Sussex Express. 26 August 2014. http://www.sussexexpress.co.uk/news/county-news/poet-s-campaign-to-save-cross-in-hand-windmill-1-6255258.
- ↑ "Cross-in-Hand Windmill Restoration". Indiegogo. 9 April 2015. https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/cross-in-hand-windmill-restoration.
- Hemming, Peter (1936). Windmills in Sussex. London: C W Daniel. Online version
