Exploring Kent's Past

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Monument details

Summary

Grade II* listed building. Main construction periods 1868 to 1868. Built in 1868 by John Hill of Ashford Mill-wright. Rectangular brick base of 2 storeys. Above this is an octagonal smock mill of white weatherboarding with a platform and railing round, above the base. Sash windows with glazing bars intact. Hooded cap. Fantail and sweeps partly missing. At the base is a house of 2 storeys tile hung. Hipped slate roof. 2 sashes with glazing bars intact.

Monument Types

• WINDMILL (Post Medieval to Modern - 1868 AD to 2050 AD)

Full description

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Description from record TR 04 SW 30 :
Smock-mill: intact and in excellent condition. (1) (TR 03124214) Windmill (NAT) (2) 5344 Willesborough Windmill, Hythe Road, (North-East Side) TR 04 SW 3/121. 24 9 51 Grade 2*. Built in 1868 by John Hill of Ashford Mill-wright. Rectangular brick base of 2 storeys. Above this is an octagonal smock mill of white weatherboarding with a platform and railing round, above the base. Sash windows with glazing bars intact. Hooded cap. Fantail and sweeps partly missing. At the base is a house of 2 storeys tile hung. Hipped slate roof. 2 sashes with glazing bars intact. (3) TR 032422 Mill Lane, Willesborough. A large octagonal white boarded smock mill on a two-storey brick base was built in 1869 by John Hill of Ashford to replace a previous smock mill. It worked until 1938 when an electric drive was installed and ran until 1969: now used as astore. The main internal machinery, with four pairs of stones, is intact but the sweeps and fantail are missing. (4,5,6,7,8) The fantail was sold in 1946 for Barham mill (TR 2050). Described variously as in generally good condition (7) and in urgent need of repair. (5,6) (5,6,7,8)

The sweeps have been repaired. (9)

Willesborough Windmill ceased to run using wind power in the 1930s after which it ground animal feed using electric auxiliary power. It produced a small amount of flour using a smaller set of grinding stones driven off a lay shaft. The mill closed in the 1950s and was used for storage and later as a home until 1989. The mill fell into disrepair and was bought by the Ashford Borough Council who had restored the building by 1991. They retained the lower rooms of the miller's cottage and converted the upper section into a self-contained flat. In the late 1990s the sweeps were removed, having become unsafe and in 2001 the Willesborough Windmill Trust took over responsibility for the building. They raised the funds necessary for a new cap and sweeps as well as the work to renew the staging and replacement of two-thirds of the smock. The mill is working again (2007), being used by the Friends of the Willesborough Windmill to grind local grain to produce flour which is sold in the barn on site and in local shops. (10)

According to feedback received via the PastScape website, the mill is currently in use (2010) and is still open to the public and grinds grain for sale. Recorded by NRIM, photographed. (11)

The following text is from the original listed building designation:
1.
5344 HYTHE ROAD
(North-East Side)
Willesborough
Windmill
TR 04 SW 3/121 24.9.51.
II*
2.
Built in 1868 by John Hill of Ashford Mill-Wright. Rectangular brick base of 2
storeys. Above this is an octagonal smock mill of white weatherboarding with
a platform and railing round, above the base. Sash windows with glazing bars intact. Hooded cap. Fantail and sweeps partly missing. At the base is a house of 2 storeys tile hung. Hipped slate roof. 2 sashes with glazing bars intact.
Listing NGR: TR0312942132 (12)

Historic England archive material (13)

<1> F1 CFW 01-MAY-1963 (OS Card Reference). SKE42377.

<2> OS 1:2500 1972 (OS Card Reference). SKE48214.

<3> DOE(HHR) Ashford Dist Kent June 1976 35 (OS Card Reference). SKE40807.

<4> Windmills of Eng 1976 232 (R J Brown) (OS Card Reference). SKE51363.

<5> The Windmills of Kent 2nd Ed 1979 80-3 (J West) (OS Card Reference). SKE50556.

<6> Industrial Arch of S E Eng 1978 60 (A H Haselfoot) (OS Card Reference). SKE44294.

<7> Windmills in Kent 1979 20 photo (B J & M J Turpin) (OS Card Reference). SKE51340.

<8> Bldgs of Eng W Kent & the Weald 2nd Ed 1980 610 (J Newman) (OS Card Reference). SKE37954.

<9> Field report for monument TR 04 SW 30 - May, 1963 (Bibliographic reference). SKE5187.

<10> Higginbotham, Peter., 2000, Willesborough Windmill Enterprises (Website). SKE54485.

<11> National Record of Industrial Monuments (NRIM): Index Cards (Index). SKE53912.

<12> English Heritage, List of Buildings of Special Architectural or Historic Interest (Map). SKE16160.

<13> Historic England, Archive material associated with Willesborough smock mill Listed building (Archive). SKE54486.

Sources and further reading