Whissendine Windmill
The Whissendine Windmill is a tower mill 60 feet high in Whissendine in Rutland. It was built in 1809, and restored in 1996 after being idle for 74 years. One of the most interesting features of the mill is the Wegman's Roller Mill, dating from 1878, and a forerunner of modern roiller mills, which has porcelain rolls (modern rolls are made of steel).
History
The windmill was originally built in 1809 by the Earls of Harborough who also owned Stapleford Park and the rest of the village. In the 1860s it was sold on, and in time came to the Kitchen family who retained and operated the mill until April 1922, when gale force winds damaged it so badly it was forced to close s a working mill. Thereafter it stood derelict.
In 1995 Nigel Moon bought the Whissendine Windmill for just £50,000, and he set to the task of returning it to its former grinding greatness.[1]
To bring the mill back to life the whole top of the structure had to be rebuilt and major gearing replaced. The internal machinery was intact though and the mill began its work driven by electricity, while Mr Moon worked to repair the sails so as to run the mill by wind again.
Milling
The mill is today a working windmill producing flour for local bakeries. Grain is lifted from the ground on an elevator to the hopper on the top floor, where there are four sets of millstones into which the grain is fed.
Once ground, the flour pours down chutes to the dressing floor below where it is separated into finer flour and coarse bran using a large drum.
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