Billingford Windmill

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Billingford Windmill
Windmill
Billingford Windmill
Country	England
State	Norfolk
Region	East of England
District	South Norfolk
Municipality	Diss
Location	Dickleburgh and Rushall
Founded	1859
Owner	Privately Owned
Visitation	Open to the Public occasionally (Open Bank Holiday Mondays 9 April and 7 and 28 May, 10:30 am - 5:30 pm. Sundays 8 July, 5 August, 2 September, 1:00 pm - 5:00 pm. Open National Mills Weekend, Saturday 12 May, 1:00 pm - 5:00 pm.)
Billingford Windmill within Norfolk
Website: http://www.norfolkwindmills.co.uk/details.htm#Billingford
Map Ref: TM167786

Billingford Windmill is located in the south of the english county of Norfolk^[1]. It is 4 miles east of the town of Diss and is in the civil parish of Dickleburgh and Rushall. It is on the route of the A143 road to Great Yarmouth.The Windmill is also sometimes known as Pyrleston Windmill. The Windmill is very close to the border of Norfolk and Suffolk which runs along the course of the the River Waveney

[edit] Description

Billingford Windmill is a tower mill and is 5 storeys high and built from red brick^[2]. It was built by W. Skinner in 1859 at a cost of £1,300. The windmill tower had two doors on the ground floor. The present mill was built on the site of a former postmill which had been badly damaged in a gale several years before. The mill has a boat-shaped cap^[3] which was at one time coated in black tar. In more recent times the cap was painted white during restoration. In the 1930s a 6-bladed fan replaced an older fan of an older traditional pattern. During the mill's restoration, four wide double-shuttered sails with 8 bays of 3 shutters were installed and were operated by rack and pinion striking gear. The millstones were on the second floor and overdriven via wooden-cogged iron stone nuts. The mill originally drove two pairs of stones, one of which was restored to working order. A hurst frame supported a pair of composition stones that were sickle-dressed and driven via an outside pulley on the second floor by an oil-powered engine that was installed in 1928. The mill last used wind power in 1956, by which time it only had two of the four original sails. The windmill had in fact been the last windmill working using wind power in Norfolk. Then after further wind damage the mill relied on its oil-fired engines for power. Eventually the windmill ceased production in 1959.

[edit] Preservation

When the windmill ceased working commercially it was sold to a Mr Valiant. Valiant restored the mill for future preservation that peculiarly included demolishing the surrounding mill buildings. Funding for the restoration work was helped of donations from Norfolk County Council, The Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings and the Historic Buildings Council. After completion of the work, Valiant donated it to Norfolk County Council and thus the mill became first to be acquired by the Norfolk Windmills Trust for preservation.

Local People.

James Henry Govier [ 1910-1974 ] the British painter and etcher, who lived at nearby Hoxne produced a number of views of this windmill. See the Norfolk Windmill site for images.

[edit] References

The illustrated Histoy of Hoxne. 2006. Stephen Govier.

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