Stembridge Mill, High Ham

Stembridge Tower Mill in High Ham, Somerset, England is the last remaining thatched windmill in England. It is the last survivor of five windmills that once existed in the area.^[1]

A Tower Mill is a type of windmill which consists of a brick or stone tower, on top of which sits a roof or cap which can be turned to bring the sails into the wind. The advantage of the tower mill over the earlier post mill is that it is not necessary to turn the whole mill ("body", "buck") with all its machinery into the wind; this allows more space for the machinery as well as for storage. In the earliest tower mills the cap was turned into the wind with a long tail-pole which stretched down to the ground at the back of the mill. Later an endless chain was used which drove the cap through gearing as is used at Stembridge.

Stembridge Mill was constructed in 1822, including parts from the earlier Ham Mill which stood nearby,^[2] with a 26 feet (7.9 m) high tower on an old mill mound.^[3]

It was damaged by storms and left running via steam by 1897/8 and last used commercially in 1910. In 1969 Professor H. H. Bellot left the windmill, cottage and garden to the National Trust in his will. The mill has four floors, a thatched cap and is constructed of local limestone known in the area as Blue Lias.^[4]

The first miller was John Sherring.

The remains of the old bakehouse can still be see to the rear of the mill.

The mill has been designated by English Heritage as a grade II* listed building.^[5]. The mill is owned by The National Trust and underwent a £100,000 restoration by local craftsmen funded by the Grantscape Community Heritage Fund in 2009 and was re-opened later in the year^[6].

References

External links

• Stembridge Tower Mill information at The National Trust