Exploring Kent's Past

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Monument details

Summary

Grade II* listed building. Main construction periods 1868 to 1958. Chillenden Windmill (19th c.) was built in 1868, the last 'open trestle' post mill to be built in Kent and Britain. It is the only post mill of this kind surviving in Kent. It probably replaced a previous mill although this may not have stood in the same spot. The mill is now owned by Kent county Council and has been restored. In 2003 gusting winds caused the mill to collapse. It was rebuilt and strengthened, and reopened to the public in 2005.

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Monument Types

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

Full description

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Description from record TR 25 SE 22 :
(TR 26905423) Windmill (corn) [NAT] (1) Chillenden Windmill. Grade I. Built in 1868 and probably the last mill of post type to be built in Kent. This Mill has not and never had a round-house. It stands on a central wooden post and a wooden cross-beam one way and an iron girder the other. It is the only post mill of this kind surviving in Kent. Faced with weatherboarding.3 sweeps remain, also the tail-pole. Ladder giving access to the Mill. (2) Chillenden windmill TR 26905423. This is one of Kent's four complete post mills to remain. The windmill is an open trestle type with post,supporting quarterbars and cross-trees exposed to the elements. The mill has been restored recently. (3) The mill was the last of the open-trestle post mills to be built in the county. Refurbished after 1955. (4) Chillenden Windmill, Goodnestone. Grade II*. Windmill , of post mill type. Built 1868, restored 1958. Timber construction, faced and roofed with white painted weather boarding. Gambrel shaped roof and prow-shaped canopy towards sweeps. The whole stands on a large central post supported by cross-beams at the base with tail pole, now fixed by access stairs to double boarded doors. The sweeps remain, with ratched gear for operating the angles of the vanes. The last built and last remaining post mill in the country. (5) TR 269543. On the north side of the road between Goodnestone and Chillenden. A post mill with open trestle, built 1868. Owned by Kent County Council and kept in good repair. Machinery intact as far as stones, but no auxiliary equipment. Four patent sails with elliptical springs but no shutters. The body has been reinforced underneath with iron struts and angles which now prevent it turning; no fantail, but tail pole and cartwheel. Ceased work in 1949. (6) Additional bibliography. (7-10)

The following text is from the original listed building designation:
GOODNESTONE CHILLENDEN TR 25 SE 3/58 Chillenden Windmill 11.10.63 II* Windmill, of post mill type. Built 1868, restored 1958. Timber construction, faced and roofed with white painted weather boarding. Gambrel shaped roof and prow-shaped canopy towards sweeps. The whole stands on a large central post supported by cross-beams at the base with tail pole, now fixed by access stairs to double boarded doors. The sweeps remain, with ratchet gear for operating the angles of the vanes. The last built and last remaining post mill in the county.
Listing NGR: TR2710053528 (11)

Mill blown down in 2003 and rebuilt in 2005.

Historic England archive material: BF002504 CHILLENDON WINDMILL, GOODNESTONE File of material relating to a site or building. This material has not yet been fully catalogued. Copyright, date, and quantity information for this record may be incomplete or inaccurate.

<1> OS 1:10000 1978 (OS Card Reference). SKE48163.

<2> DOE (HHR) Dist of Eastry RD Kent Sept 1960 (OS Card Reference). SKE40278.

<3> The Windmills of Kent 1979 21 23 32 113 116 118 (J West) (OS Card Reference). SKE50544.

<4> Windmills in Kent 1979 6 (BJ and JM Turpin) (OS Card Reference). SKE51351.

<5> DOE (HHR) Dist of Dover 1986 24 (OS Card Reference). SKE40244.

<6> Ind Arch of SE England 1978 32 (AJ Haselfoot) (OS Card Reference). SKE44251.

<7> Windmills of England 1976 16 96-97 (RJ Brown) (OS Card Reference). SKE51367.

<8> BOE NE and E Kent 1983 276 (J Newman) (OS Card Reference). SKE38231.

<9> The National Trust Guide to our Industrial Past 1983 207 (A Burton) (OS Card Reference). SKE50442.

<10> National Record of Industrial Monuments (NRIM): Index Cards (Index). SKE53912.

<11> English Heritage, List of Buildings of Special Architectural or Historic Interest (Map). SKE16160.

Sources and further reading