Stansted Mountfitchet Windmill

Stansted Mill

The restored mill, October 2007
Origin
Mill name Stansted Mill
Mill location TL 509 248
51°54′04″N 0°11′38″E / 51.901°N 0.194°E / 51.901; 0.194
Operator(s) Private
Year built 1787
Information
Purpose Corn mill
Type Tower mill
Storeys Five storeys
Number of sails Four sails
Type of sails Patent sails
Windshaft cast iron
Winding Fantail
Fantail blades Eight blades
Auxiliary power Steam engine
Number of pairs of millstones Three pairs

Stansted Mountfitchet Windmill is a grade II* listed [1] Tower mill at Stansted Mountfitchet, Essex, England which is also a Scheduled Ancient Monument.[2][3] It has been restored and can turn by wind.

History

Stansted Mountfitchet Windmill was built in 1787 for Joseph Lindsell.[4] Lindsell sold the mill in 1807 to Henry Chaplin, who mortgaged the mill to Robert Sworder in April 1808. Chaplin died in 1844 and the mill was offered for sale by auction on 22 December 1846 without a buyer being found.[5]

In 1847, it was reported that one pair of sails required replacement. The old Common sails were replaced with a pair of Spring sails at a cost of £29 4s 0d by Thomas Seabrook, millwright of Furneaux Pelham, Hertfordshire. In March 1848, it was reported that one of the remaining Common sails had blown down, and the remaining sail was not fit for further work. A pair of “new Patent sails” was fitted at a cost of £12 5s 0d, with a new sail back costing a further £5 13s 4d. In November 1848 the mill was again working on two sails, and another pair of Patent sails were fitted at a cost of £23. Hicks demanded a reduction in rent from £60 to £45 per annum at midsummer 1850, which he was successful in obtaining.[5]

Hicks left the mill in 1853, and recommended William Randall Dixon to be the next tenant. Dixon took the mill on a seven-year lease at £45 in May that year. A bake office was built in February 1854 at Dixon’s request and the rent was increased to £55. An oak stock was reported as cracked at about this time, and the mill was again reduced to two sails in September 1854 as a stock was defective. Dixon left the mill in 1856 and Edward Hicks again took the tenancy of the mill.[5]

In 1860 Hicks asked for the mill to be modernised and a new steam mill to be built. The proposal for the steam mill was dropped, but a new windshaft was required and a fantail was asked for in return for an increase in rent. The cap frame was also repaired, with a new weatherbeam fitted.[5] A new cast iron windshaft was fitted by Seabrook at a cost of £25. Seabrook fitted a new fantail in that year at a cost of a further £25.[6] Hicks left the mill in June 1861, and a local man by the name of Ervin took the mill at a reduced rent of £40.[5] In 1862, millwright Fyson of Soham remodelled the machinery, converting the mill from an underdrift mill to an overdrift mill[6] at a cost of £58 13s 7d. The stage and round house were removed at this time. John Buck took the mill in 1863 at a rent of £20, and reported that various work done by Fyson was faulty. Rectification was carried out by Seabrook. The mill was sold to William White in January 1865 for £1,150.[5]

By 1870, the mill had four double Patent sails which were over 7 feet (2.1 m) wide.[6] A steam engine was assisting the sails by 1890.[5] The mill last worked commercially in 1910.[4] In 1930, the tower had to be strengthened with three iron bands[6] and in 1934 the second Lord Blyth had the mill repaired and presented it to the parish.[4] The mill served as a Scout hut from the 1940s to 1963. It was scheduled as an Ancient Monument in 1952. The mill was opened to the public for the first time in 1964, with restoration work being done in 1966.[3] In 1984-5, the mill was repaired by Millwrights International of Mapledurham, Berkshire at a cost of £14,000. The work enabled both the cap and sails to turn.[4] In 2003, the mill was struck by lightning during an open day.[3] In 2005, it was reported that repairs costing £70,000 were needed.[7] An appeal to local residents for support in raising money towards the repair of the mill was generally ignored, despite leafletting every house in Stansted Mountfitchet.[8]

Description

For an explanation of the various pieces of machinery, see Mill machinery.

Stansted Mountfitchet Windmill is a five storey tower mill with a domed cap winded by an eight bladed fantail.[4] The tower is 21 feet 6 inches (6.55 m) diameter at base, and 10 feet (3.05 m) diameter at curb level. The brickwork is only 27 inches (690 mm) thick at ground level, and generally only about 18 inches (460 mm) at higher levels. This has resulted in a weak tower which required strengthening with three iron bands. Height of the tower is 47 feet (14.33 m) from ground level to curb. the cap is 10 feet (3.05 m) from curb to roof hatch, giving the mill an overall height of 57 feet (17.37 m)[6] The cast iron windshaft is in two parts, with a separate tail section. It carries four Single Patent sails (originally double Patents, later cut down), and a wooden 8 feet (2.44 m) diameter clasp arm brake wheel of oak and elm with 99 iron segment teeth. This drives a wooden wallower with 44 teeth carried on a wooden upright shaft. The clasp arm great spur wheel is 8 feet (2.44 m) diameter, with 140 cogs. It drives three pairs of overdrift millstones. The stone nuts having 28 teeth each.[6]

As originally built, the mill had a wooden windshaft, and a stage, which was 24 feet (7.32 m) above ground level. The mill was built with four Common sails carried on a wooden windshaft. The cap was winded by hand. The mill was originally an underdrift mill, with the millstones a floor higher than they are now.[6] A lean-to structure known as the roundhouse was attached to the mill below stage level.[5]

Millers

References for above:-[4][5]

Public access

Stansted Mountfitchet Windmill is open on the first Sunday of each month from 1.30 - 5.30pm, and on other special days.[9]

References

  1. ↑ Historic England. "WINDMILL, MILL SIDE, STANSTED MOUNTFITCHET, UTTLESFORD, ESSEX (413238)". Images of England. Retrieved 10 August 2008.
  2. ↑ Historic England. "Stanstead Windmill (373586)". PastScape. Retrieved 7 April 2009.
  3. 1 2 3 "History". Stansted Mountfitchet Windmill. Retrieved 11 August 2008.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Farries, Kenneth (1988). Essex Windmills, Millers and Millwrights - Volume Five - A Review by Parishes, S-Z. Edinburgh: Charles Skilton. pp. 33–37. ISBN 0-284-98821-9.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Farries, Kenneth (1981). Essex Windmills, Millers and Millwrights - Volume One – An Historical Review. London & Edinburgh: Charles Skilton. pp. 73–78. ISBN 0-284-98641-0.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Farries, Kenneth (1982). Essex Windmills, Millers and Millwrights - Volume Two – A Technical Review. London & Edinburgh: Charles Skilton. pp. 78–81, 99. ISBN 0-284-98637-2.
  7. ↑ "Stansted windmill appeals to local community for funding". Windmill World. Retrieved 11 August 2008.
  8. ↑ "Stansted windmill response has been low key". Windmill World. Retrieved 11 August 2008.
  9. ↑ "Local attractions". Stansted.net. Archived from the original on 31 May 2006. Retrieved 11 August 2008.
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