High Salvington windmill
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Durrington or High Salvington Windmill (TQ 123 067 ) is a Grade II listed[1] post mill in High Salvington, Sussex that has been restored and is in full working order. The mill stands 320 feet (98 m) above sea level and is able to take advantage of incoming sea winds.
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[edit] History
The earliest mention of a mill is in church records, which indicate that the miller was fined in 1615.[2] Budgen's 1724 map showed a mill on this site. The current mill was built around 1750 and was apparently insured against fire in 1774. The windmill ground flour for the Worthing area until 1897 when it was purchased by Colonel T F Wisden. A condition of sale was that the mill had to be kept in working order. [3] It was retired to a role of grinding animal feed until 1905.[citation needed] The mill is known to have worked again in 1914.[3] During much of the 20th century the mill was neglected although in 1908 the wooden roundhouse was replaced with a concrete structure used as a tea-room. In 1959, the mill was taken into the care of Worthing Borough Council. Messrs E Hole and Son, millwrights of Burgess Hill renovated the mill in 1961 and fitted a new pair of stocks and four new sails. In March 1976 one of the sails was broken off in a gale, and the other three removed. An inspection of the mill revealed she was not in good repair. Worthing Town Council set up a restoration project.[3] The roundhouse was rebuilt to better replicate the original in 1990[2] and the restored mill began grinding again in 1991. A granary was rescued from East Grinstead was re-erected at the mill in 1994. In 1998 it was discovered that one of the Stocks was split. A new Stock was made from laminated larch and the sails were refitted.[4]
In early 2008, the three councillors from Salvington Ward, Mayor Heather Mercer, Cllr Jacqui Marsh and Cllr Noel Atkins, awarded the Mill Trust a total of £3,000, from the Mayor's fund and the pilot Ward Budget Scheme, respectively. This will contribute to the refurbishment of the current gatehouse as a visitor information centre, which it is hoped will be completed by the end of 2009.
[edit] Restoration
Inspection of the mill after the loss of a sail in 1976 revealed that the trestle had been weakened by Death Watch Beetles. The machinery and millstones were removed from the mill and placed in storage. A steel frame was constructed and used to support the mill whilst the trestle and Crown Tree were replaced. A new 10 feet (3.05 m) diameter Brake Wheel was constructed and fitted in 1985. One pair of sails was fitted in 1987[4] The sails were turning in the Great Storm of 1987 although the brake was on.[2] The second pair of sails were fitted in 1988. The roundhouse was rebuilt in 1990 and the restored mill ground for the first time on 4 April 1991.[4]
[edit] Description
High Salvington Windmill is a post mill with a single storey roundhouse. The mill rotates on a solid oak Post which is in turn supported by a trestle of heavy pine Quarter Bars supported on two Crosstrees, themselves resting on four brick piers. The trestle is protected by a wooden roundhouse, modelled on the pre-1907 structure. On top of the post, a Samson Head is fitted and this supports the Crown Tree - a large, heavy oak timber to which the body of the mill is attached.
The windmill has a pair of Common Sails and a pair of Spring Sails, carried by a wooden windshaft with a cast iron poll end. The mill has two pairs of millstones, arranged head and tail. The Head Stones are Derbyshire Peak stones are used for rough grinding, while the Tail Stones are made from pieces of French Burrstone, embedded in Plaster of Paris. These millstones were used for fine grinding. Each pair of stones is driven by its own wheel, called the Head Wheel and Tail Wheel.[3] The Friends of High Salvington Mill have had to rebuild the Head Wheel, but the Tail Wheel, an original of a rare "compass arm" design, is now too fragile to be used for grinding.
Tenter gear is installed to adjust the gap between the stones, and along with the usual system of levers adjustable via a tentering screw, the mill also has a rope attached that allows the miller to lift the half-ton runner stone, while governors adjust to the wind speed and raise or lower the gap accordingly.
[edit] Millers
- Daniel Redman 1824–1847
- William Beard 1847–1871
- Walter Brown 1871–1897
- Alfred Samuel Coote –1898
- Stephen Scutt –1906
- Coote 1914
[edit] Glynde windpump
The High Salvington Windmill Trust acquired in late 2007, and restored during 2007–8, the Glynde Windpump, a much smaller hollow post mill. This originally stood at TQ 457 087 , it was built in the mid nineteenth century to supply water to steam engines which powered an aerial ropeway at a nearby quarry.[6]
The trestle has been embedded in solid foundations, on which the restored post has been mounted. The buck (body) has been restored and resized according to photographs of the original taken in 1929, and the gear ratio between the windshaft and crankshaft has been adjusted, with a new gear wheel cut. An easily removable roof has been installed and new sails have been designed and constructed. The fully restored windpump will be unveiled on Sunday 11 May 2008, during National Mills Weekend.
[edit] Public access
High Salvington Windmill is open to the public, from 2.30pm to 5pm, every first and third Sunday of the months April through to September, inclusive. Volunteer "millwrights" meet at the site every Thursday evening, from 7pm until 9pm, and the first and third Sunday morning of every month throughout the year. All the maintenance and restoration work at the mill is carried out by the volunteers. Organised parties can also arrange to visit the site for guided tours at other times, by arrangement with the Visit organiser.
[edit] References
- ^ DURRINGTON OR SALVINGTON MILL, FURZE ROAD (south side), WORTHING, WORTHING, WEST SUSSEX. English Heritage. Retrieved on 2008-05-05.
- ^ a b c History. High Salvington Windmill official website. Retrieved on 2008-05-04.
- ^ a b c d e Brunnarius, Martin (1979). The Windmills of Sussex. Chichester: Philimore, p41-43, 189. ISBN 0 85033 345 8.
- ^ a b c Restoration. High Salvington Windmill official website. Retrieved on 2008-05-05.
- ^ FINDON WINDMILL'S SISTER MILL — High Salvington Windmill (also known as Durrington Mill). Findon village. Retrieved on 2008-05-13.
- ^ Brunnarius, Martin (1979). The Windmills of Sussex. Chichester: Philimore, p166. ISBN 0 85033 345 8.
[edit] External links
- Its website
- Windmill World page on the mill.
[edit] Further reading
Hemming, Peter (1936). Windmills in Sussex. London: C W Daniel. Online version
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